Digimon: Virus Busters REVISED
by GordoBaggins
Summary: A new virtual pet fad is not all that it seems! When the world inside those little devices becomes more than one Japanese city to handle, four kids are chosen by accident to protect the Real World from its dangers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Jenny's Got a 'Mon

"Digital Monsters! The hippest sensation in Japan since sliced br-"

"Ugh." Jen Tagatu, a fourteen-year-old girl, lay on her bed, flipping through channels on her wall-mounted television. TV was her escape from the trials of her everyday life. Programs like the news were the type she tended to avoid, as sometimes they reminded her of herself. A broken family life, an arrogant boyfriend, and untrustworthy friends were a selection of the options for her to face in her existence.

She played around with the goggles that lay strapped around her neck. They seemed oversized, but she commonly wore them on her forehead as a fashion statement. She felt she blended in at school a little too much without something out of the ordinary.

Lazily, Jen got up from her near-unconscious channel flipping and walked over to her computer. It wasn't the most up-to-date machine due to her parent's low funds, but it served its purpose. Connected to the CPU was her black cell phone, still charging from her long talks with her boyfriend.

"Ever wanted a pet of your own? Do your parents refer to you as irresponsible and too lazy to take care of a living animal?"

Jen groaned at the corny advertising of this "Digital Monster". "That damn commercial's on every channel at every second of every freakin' day…" She turned the TV off in annoyance.

Jen turned around and looked at her cell phone. The small screen on the flip phone's cover was glowing. Jen approached it and went to pick it up, but her hand was shocked in response and she jerked it back. If not for her bulky black gloves, she may have been injured.

The glowing continued, and it began flashing like a strobe light. "This is… too weird," Jen muttered. "Apparently whoever's calling me doesn't want me to pick up…" She decided to leave her phone be and she walked back over to her bed, yawning. She laid down, slowly closing her eyes to fall asleep.

- - -

"HEEEEEEEY, JEN!"

Jen's eyes burst open in startled surprise to the greeting she'd heard. She flew up from her sleeping position and she noticed something on her lap in front of her.

On her bed sheet was a small, blue monster with white around his face and stomach. He had large, red eyes and a medium length blue tail. From the top of his head jutted two fleshy appendages. He had two feet and two arms, but his arms appeared to have no hands or fingers, as they were barely each two inches long.

"What… what the hell are you? A dog?" Jen said in annoyance. "Dogs aren't allowed in these apartments, you know…"

"What's a dog, Jen?" the monster asked, bouncing in excitement. "I'm bored! Let's playyyy!"

"Dude… I don't even **know** you, kid, bug off…" Jen grabbed the thing by one of his ear-like appendages and placed him on the ground next to her bed. "Now go home, little doggy, before I call the pound."

"The pound? What's the pound? It sounds like it hurts, Jen!"

"How the hell do you even know my _name_?" Jen wondered, extremely confused.

"I'm your Digimon partner, Jen!" the monster leaped back onto Jen's bed. "DemiVeemon!"

"Digi…mon… Digital Monster?" Jen worked it out in her head based on the television commercials she'd seen. "Oh my God, you're kidding me. They got little dwarves to dress in Digital Monster costumes and advertise for them?"

"Costume? Dwarf?" DemiVeemon showed an expression of confusion, yet excitement. "Those sound yummy!"

"Uhh… yeah, they are," Jen said sarcastically. "And you know what?" She picked DemiVeemon up by the tail and walked over to her window. "You can find some tasty ones **right** across the street, mmkay?" Jen dropped DemiVeemon onto her room's fire escape and slammed the window closed. "Good frickin' riddance."

- - -

Her alarm buzzed.

Jen pushed the sheets off of her bed and got up. She still had her clothes on from last night's experience, and she didn't seem to care. She checked the time on her alarm clock.

7:25.

School was at 7:40, and she'd decided she had no time to get ready. She simply grabbed her backpack and headed out the door to walk to school, as usual.

But she'd forgotten her cell phone.

- - -

Arriving at Osaka High School, Jen looked around the crowd of waiting students outside. She was looking for her boyfriend. Shrugging, she decided to ask one of his friends. She spotted one of them, who wore a blue and silver sweatband on his head and a white muscle shirt.

"Err, excuse me…" she interrupted the boy, "do you know where Uyeda might be?"

"I don't think he's here today," the boy responded, with surprising kindness. "You're Jen, right? His girlfriend?"

"Yeah. Thanks anyway, though, erm…"

"Max," the boy chuckled.

"Gotcha," she winked embarrassedly. _Today's gonna go by so slow…_

- - -

Finally free from the clutches of another high school day, Jen walked out the front doors, but not with a smile on her face. She was disappointed that she didn't have a chance to speak with Uyeda all day.

Jen looked to her right coming out of the school and noticed something bustling in the bushes. "Squirrel."

"What's a squirrel, Jen?"

"GAH!" Jen jumped at the sight of the returning DemiVeemon. "Why are you _here_?"

"I'm your partner, Jen! I need to keep track of you! And for the record, those costumes and dwarves tasted nasty…"

"I'm not understanding this whole 'partner' thing…" Jen told him. "What will it take for you to leave me alone?"

"Be my friend!"

"What?"

"Yeah! I need you to be my friend and train me!"

Jen adjusted her goggles on her head. "Erm, train you in what?"

"To be a strong Digimon! What else?"

"You're confusing me, kid… just bug off." Jen began to walk faster down the sidewalk.

"I'm just gonna follow you!" DemiVeemon sang in a sing-song tone.

Jen groaned. "Alright, whatever, I'm going home to get my cell phone. Follow me if you please. Just don't _touch_ me."

- - -

Jen exited her apartment and made her way down the stairs. Her cell phone was in her hand, and she was gazing at it strangely.

"What's wrong, Jen? Is your phell cone broken?"

"This isn't mine…" she told herself. Instead of the device being black, it appeared now to be silver with a blue trim, in a smoother shape. "My phone's black… this one's blue and it looks a lot different. I _hate_blue."

"I'm blue, Jen!" DemiVeemon pestered her.

"I know. I dislike you a bit, too."

DemiVeemon humphed, "But I didn't do anything! I just wanna be your partner…"

Jen began to cross the street with DemiVeemon at her side. "Y'know, I feel like a retard talking to a little blue man while I'm on a public road…"

"That's okay, Jen! I'll try not to embarrass you too much."

"Well, you ruined that already…" Jen flipped open the strange flip phone and peered at the screen. "Hey, there's nothing on here… it's all blank."

DemiVeemon stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong, blue dude?"

DemiVeemon turned to his right and ran down the residential street. "There's a Digimon nearby!"

"Well, no crap… it's you."

"No!" DemiVeemon waved her on, hopping down the sidewalk. "This way!"

"That's back towards the school, though!"

"I know! Let's go!"

Jen sighed and flipped the phone shut, running to catch up with DemiVeemon.

- - -

"Over there!" Arriving at the high school, DemiVeemon pointed at a child sized ogre monster wielding a small wooden club. It had green skin and a rather stupid look on its face, as it seemed to be causing no trouble. There was nobody in the area, so it was rather harmless.

But something was strange about the surrounding area. It was sheathed in a brightened mist, which made it hard to see for Jen. She reluctantly pulled her goggles over her eyes.

"That's Goblimon!" DemiVeemon stated.

"Goblimon?" Jen groaned. "Great, another stupid monster."

"No, this one's a bit stronger than me… he's a Rookie level!"

"Rookie? Like, a baseball rookie or something?"

"What does that mean?" DemiVeemon asked. The Goblimon had turned his head and eyeballed the two. "Uh oh!"

"What?"

"He sees us!"

Goblimon pulled his club up and ran madly toward Jen and DemiVeemon. Jen picked DemiVeemon up from the ground and dove to the right. "MOVE!"

The pair had barely dodged Goblimon and nearly ran into a bush to the side. "That was close, Jen…" DemiVeemon sighed in relief.

"What are we going to do about this guy?"

"I'm gonna fight him, that's what!" DemiVeemon exclaimed. "Pop Attack!" DemiVeemon made a leap forward, head first, and smacked Goblimon in the stomach. Goblimon didn't seem to react to this, and instead knocked DemiVeemon to the side with his club.

"Blue guy!" Jen said in worry of DemiVeemon. She gripped her cell phone in her hand. "Don't touch him again, you little green fruit cup!" Suddenly, Jen's cell phone began glowing in her grip.

"Jen…" DemiVeemon got up from his fall. "I feel strange…"

The cell phone continued glowing, and soon enough, DemiVeemon was glowing as well!

"_DemiVeemon digivolve to…_"

"What in the hell…?" Jen showed surprise at the monster's changing form.

"_**…Veemon!**_" DemiVeemon had morphed into a form larger than his previous one, with a red "V" on his forehead and red markings under his eyes. He'd grown claws on both his hands and feet, and retained the tail and fleshy "ear" appendages from before, only now much larger.

"He's bigger? What happened?" Jen said, confusedly.

"All right! Jen, you made me digivolve!" Veemon exclaimed in joy.

_Digital Monsters… they aren't just a virtual pet fad, are they?_

"VEE HEADBUTT!" Veemon charged himself head-first at Goblimon once again, knocking him in the stomach. The attack took effect this time, knocking Goblimon back onto the pavement. The foggy light still surrounded the school's front yard.

Goblimon groaned from the attack and got back up, snarling. "De…stroy…" Goblimon's eyes glowed bright red with intensity. Veins were pulsing on his skin all over his body, and he was obviously angered.

"Uh… Jen… he's not too happy, is he?" Veemon asked, frightened.

"Not at all," Jen trembled.

Goblimon soon began to glow the same white light Veemon had when he'd digivolved. Quickly, his form changed into something of greater size and girth. Goblimon now had long horns on each side of his head, a wide-open mouth, a club made of bone in his right hand and black, tattered shorts.

"Jen?" Veemon whispered.

"Yeah?"

"RUN!"

**A/N: Veemon _does_ have red markings. Yes, they're not yellow, like a normal Veemon.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Burn, Baby, Burn

Jen and Veemon stood staring at the menacing green monster before them. His gaping mouth was a clear expression of his viciousness, lathered with saliva and fangs bare.

"Why aren't we running…?" Veemon asked Jen.

"Because you're not…"

"Well then, maybe we should count to three…"

"That sounds cool. Okay… one… two… th-"

"FIRE!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a barrage of bullets were fired at the green Digimon. The force knocked him back and he fell to the ground. Then, he seemed to evaporate. Small particles of light rose from his body and then compressed into a small red sphere only to fall to the ground.

"He's… gone?" Veemon scratched his head.

Jen and Veemon turned around to notice three identical reptile Digimon. They each held a rifle in their hands and had splotchy camouflaged skin and military armor.

The three Digimon lowered their weapons and saluted the pair. The light fog that was enveloping the area had disappeared. In reaction, the three dinosaurs ran off without notice, but not without one of them snatching the red ball.

"So Digimon… are real?" Jen asked rhetorically. "It's not just a kid thing, huh?"

"We're definitely real," Veemon smiled. "Am I not proof enough?"

"Well, before I though you were just some crazy kid who'd dressed up too early for Halloween."

"I don't know what Halloween is, Jen, but I'm not dressed up for anything."

"Well, how did you transform like that?" Jen asked.

"You helped me, Jen. You helped me digivolve! You _have_ to be my partner now!"

_What am I getting myself into…?_

- - -

"Do you know who those three guys were that saved us?" Jen asked Veemon as they sat under a tree in the park by Osaka High School. "I mean, they wouldn't save us for nothing, would they?"

"I've never seen them before in my life," Veemon told her, shrugging. "They looked really cool fighting that Digimon like that, though!"

Jen sighed. "I still can't believe this virtual pet thing is a reality…" She took a look at the kids playing at the playground, staring at them. "And maybe we shouldn't be in public."

"Don't worry, Jen, I'm good with kids!" Veemon ran over to the playground to introduce himself. Jen prepared to get up and stop him, but the kids seemed to like Veemon. After all, he was about their size.

_Does he even know what a kid is?_

"Hey, Jen!" a voice greeted her. She turned around to see Max with another little girl.

"Oh, hey, Max," she smiled. "Any word on Uyeda?"

"He's usually online now," Max said, "even when he's sick. But he wasn't."

"Yeah, Max booted me off to check, too!" the little girl next to Max said jokingly. She had blonde hair, in pigtails, and a purple headband to boot. She wore a dark pink dress and light pink shorts, as well as orange and white shoes. "I'm Alexis, by the way. Regrettably, I'm Max's sister."

Jen chuckled. "Yeah, with a brother like Max, I'd regret it too!" she winked back at him.

Max laughed and dug in his pocket for something. He pulled out a silver cell phone with a red trim, very similar to Jen's.

Jen eyeballed the phone and pulled out her own. They were almost exactly the same, except a different trim color. "Your phone changed, too?"

"Not my phone… this was my media player. But apparently it's not anymore. Definitely wacko."

The two compared the devices they held in their hands. "They're practically identical!" Jen noted.

Max looked over at the playground and noticed Veemon sliding down the slide. "Hey, what the heck is that?" he pointed.

"Oh, that's… uh… my little brother," Jen lied. "He likes that costume, alright."

"I see," Max replied. The yellow backpack he held on his back suddenly jumped away. "Whoa, my backpack!"

The sack opened itself up, and out appeared a small fireball creature with pitch black eyes. It floated away from the bag and hovered around the kids.

"Max, why did you keep me in that thing for so long?" the fiery monster asked.

"Uh, I have no idea who you are!" Max said, smiling suspiciously.

"Max, what is that thing?" Jen wondered. "It's creepy looking!"

"I'm DemiMeramon!" the creature replied. "I'm a Digimon."

"Wha- another one?!" Jen exclaimed.

"You have one too, Jen?" Max asked in surprise.

"Yeah!" She pointed over at Veemon, still playing with the children. "Sorry, I lied when I called him my little brother… but he's as annoying as one!"

"Wait, Digimon?" Alexis asked. "I have a Digimon thing!" She pulled out a small, red, cube shaped device with a small LCD screen in the center with a black border. It had a keychain attached, and above the screen read "Digital Monster". "I bought it at the toy store for one thousand yen."

"So that's the virtual pet thing I've been seeing in the commercials," Jen said. "Digimon are real, then?"

"DemiMeramon appeared on my bed last night," Max recalled, "after my mp3 player turned into this phone."

DemiMeramon smiled. "Max is my partner!"

"Veemon was telling me the same thing…" Jen sighed. "Maybe we _are_ stuck with these guys."

"Eh, DemiMeramon's not too bad to have around," Max chuckled. "He makes roasting marshmallows a bit easier!"

"I've never roasted anything of the such," DemiMeramon noted. "It sounds cool, though!"

Veemon strode over to the group in a hurry. Around a dozen kids followed, not unlike raving fans of a popular celebrity. He said, "Hey, look, another Digimon!"

"You two have met?" Jen wondered.

"No, but I can tell he's a Digimon by instinct."

"I'm DemiMeramon, pleased to meet you!" the fiery Digimon replied.

Veemon extended a hand for a shake, but jerked it back in realization that he might get burned.

"Don't worry, my fire only hurts when I choose it to. Otherwise, Max's backpack would be fried!"

The small crowd of children surrounding Veemon seemed a bit too excited. "Veemon, we want your autograph!" they exclaimed in broken unison.

"Dude, I don't know what my autograph is," Veemon said, "but I'm not giving you it!"

The kids retaliated by trampling Veemon in excitement.

- - -

"They were carrying rifles?" DemiMeramon asked Jen as they, Max, Alexis and Veemon walked down the sidewalk toward Max's apartment building. "I've never seen that before in the Digital World…"

"Yeah," Jen replied to him. She looked up at the bright afternoon sky. "They shot down the green guy and everything. And then he turned into a little red ball, so they took it and ran off."

"It was crazy!" Veemon spastically noted, as expected.

Alexis fiddled around with the buttons on her red V-Pet. "I wish my Salamon was real…"

"You're too young to have a _real_ Digimon," Max boasted, in a way. "Maybe when you're older."

"I doubt that!" Alexis proposed incredulously. "I could have a real Digimon if I wanted!"

Max rolled his eyes and looked to his right. Something was odd about a certain spot in the middle of the street. "Jen, does that spot by that Toyota look a little foggy to you?"

Jen turned her head. She noted that the rest of the street was completely clear, but the fog in the middle of it stuck out like a sore thumb. "I think I know what that means… follow me." Jen started into the foggy area, pulling her goggles over her eyes. The other shrugged and followed her.

Upon entering the fog, Max and Alexis had to shield their eyes, for strangely it was very luminous inside. Veemon and DemiMeramon, though, seemed to have no botheration. What did riddle them, though, was the odd-looking man on top of the red Toyota truck. He appeared about four foot tall with sunglasses and no torso. Strangely, he seemed to simply be a balding ball with a small mustache, beard, and bushy armpits.

Jen's cell phone began to beep incessantly. Annoyed, Jen retrieved it and flipped it open. Suddenly, a holographic display emerged from the screen. When she pointed at the strange bald Digimon, his picture appeared on the display, as well as statistics.

"Nanimon," Jen comprehended. "He's a Champion level Virus Digimon… and I honestly have no idea what that means!"

"Gimme!" Veemon snatched the phone from Jen and read it off himself. "His special attack is Power Drive!"

"Like I can't read for myself," Jen apprehended her phone from Veemon and closed it. "So does this guy mean business?"

"Actually, he's about as strong as a Rookie level," Alexis surprisingly stated. "My Agumon always digivolved to him when I treated him badly."

"Sounds like you know what you're talking about," Jen smirked. "Alright, Veemon, go get him!"

Veemon dipped his head in agreement and charged at Nanimon, who was still atop the car. "Vee Punch!" Veemon called. He swirled his arm around in dizzying circles, finally coming to Nanimon, fully charged, and punched him in the sunglasses.

Nanimon fell off the car. His glasses were apparently unharmed from the blow. He pulled red gloved fist back and thrust it at Veemon. "Exploding Punch!" a manly voice shouted. Veemon was sent flying backwards at the truck Nanimon had just leaped off of, and crashed into the left side door.

"Veemon!" Max cried, still shielding his eyes from the brightness. "DemiMeramon, help him!" Max took a moment to release his makeshift hand "visor" and pull out his red cell phone. It was illuminating brightly from every side.

"I think I will, Max!" DemiMeramon declared with courage. He began glowing as well. His shape shifted dramatically in the brightness. "_DemiMeramon digivolve to… __**Candlemon!**_"

Max's eyes widened at the sight of his new Digimon. "He went from a fireball… to a fireball with a candle body…"

Candlemon resembled just that. A wax candle with a golden candle holder under him, he hovered in the air about a foot from the ground. The wick on his head held a flame that paralleled DemiMeramon.

"Flame Bomber!" Candlemon released a fireball from his wick that struck Nanimon to the ground.

Veemon took full advantage of this. Leaping into the air above Nanimon, he shouted, "Vee Head Butt!" as he charged at the grounded Digimon head first. Upon impact, Nanimon quickly degenerated into data and formed into a red orb, much like the green Digimon from earlier. After his defeat, the kids took notice that the bright fog around him had disappeared.

"We made a good team!" Candlemon exclaimed, and gave Veemon a complementary high five.

Jen chuckled, "If it wasn't for your hard head, we'd be done for!"

Max strode over to where Nanimon once stood and picked up the crimson ball. "Any idea what this is?"

Jen approached Max and examined it as well. Jen's idea of helping was grabbing the item from Max. "Goblimon turned into this after he was destroyed, too. Maybe it's what happens when Digimon die."

Alexis looked over, now no longer covering her eyes from the light, and noticed somebody standing nearby. He stood around five foot four inches, and had shaggy brown hair and large glasses. He wore a white pocketed shirt and blue jeans. "Hey, who are you?" Alexis asked, but the kid did not respond. Instead, he took off running down the sidewalk in his own silence.

Max looked around, receiving an obvious mental note of the traffic they were holding up. "Uh… maybe we should get out of the street, guys."

**A/N: Sorry for not calling Ogremon (The "Green Monster/Digimon) by name. Yes, Goblimon did digivolve to Ogremon in Chapter 1.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Big Mac

"Who was that kid?" Jen wondered. She looked down the sidewalk to notice him still running, now skidding around a corner. The kids moved back to the sidewalk from the street.

"I think that was Jared," Max confirmed hesitantly. "He's a weird geeky kid that lives in the next apartment to us."

"I didn't think of that before…" Alexis noted, "'cause I didn't think it looked like him at first."

"Why was he over here, though?"

"Maybe he was watching us."

Jen argued, "But how could he see us through the fog?"

"We'll pay him a visit later," Max told them. "Right now, Alexis and I should get home, our mom's probably waiting for us."

"How are you gonna hide Candlemon?" Jen wondered.

"Don't worry!" Candlemon assured them. "We'll make due. Osaka's a big city, after all."

Jen gave them a thumbs up and walked off in the opposite direction with Veemon.

- - -

"Ugh," Jen fiddled with her key in the door lock to her family's apartment. "Why won't it open?"

"Want me to give it a Vee Headbutt?" Veemon asked, with a serious look on his face.

"Yeah, and have to pay for it? No way!" Jen gave up, pulling the key out of the socket. "Let's go to McDonald's or something."

"Are your parents ever home?"

Jen paused and looked up at the sky. She looked over to the clock on her apartment door. 18:35. "No. My mom… works a lot."

"What about your daddy, Jen?"

"He…" Jen sighed. "Let's just go get dinner, alright?"

Veemon shrugged, his curiosity causing trouble yet again.

- - -

Alexis pulled the wire from her computer and hooked it into her Digital Monster. "Why do I have to do this when you guys have real monsters?" she asked her brother, who was also in their room with her.

"Because," Max paused, "you have to be a little older to have a _real _Digimon."

Alexis sighed and began fiddling with her V-Pet. She was apparently battling with somebody online. "Hey, what the-" the virtual pet shocked Alexis' hand and she pulled her hands away from it.. "This thing must build up some good static."

"What happened?" Max asked her, noticing her grasping her left hand.

"It shocked me, Max." The virtual pet began shining. "Just when I was about to beat a Numemon…"

- - -

While Veemon waited outside the McDonald's, people stopped and stared at him quite often. He'd usually smile and wave at them, seeming very comfortable with the situation.

Jen came out with a bag of fast food in her hand. "Here, have some fries," she pulled a small red box of stick shaped potatoes out of the bag and handed them to Veemon. She sat down next to him on the pavement, Veemon scarfing the food down already.

"So what's the Digital World like?" Jen asked curiously.

"It's big," Veemon spat, his mouth full with fries. "There's mountains, cities, hills, buildings… you name it!"

"Who created it, though? I mean, something like that doesn't exactly appear out of nowhere, does it?"

"Gee, I dunno…" Veemon stopped eating for a moment. "Probably some smart dude."

"Any chance of us ever going there with you?"

"Maybe. Why go there, though? The real world is so much cooler!" Veemon shoveled the rest of the fries down and took a sip of his Coke.

"I don't know. I think it would be kind of interesting."

"But you're human. You're not made of data."

"What's your point?"

"Well, Digimon are made of data. If you're not made of data, you probably can't go to the Digital World."

A tall made approached them and stood before them, speaking in a deep voice, "I beg to differ."

"Huh?" Veemon looked up at the man. He had brown hair and a peach fuzz mustache. He looked a bit younger looking, maybe in his late twenties, and he wore a white uniform. "Who are you?"

"I'm Mr. Hiroshi, former executive of Digital Monsters Incorporated. I'd like to speak with you about your… cell phone."

- - -

"Damn, maybe you DO have a Digimon," Max sighed. "I thought maybe I would be special…" Max and Alexis watched before their eyes as Alexis' Digital Monster transformed into a purple-trimmed cell phone, much like Jen and Max's.

"COOL!" Alexis smiled. "I could have my Salamon from my V-Pet!"

Max tried to change the subject. "You know, isn't seven o'clock past your bedtime?"

"Nope!" Alexis smiled. "I'm gonna go find my Digimon now, before she runs away!"

Max grabbed on to the collar of his sister's shirt. "Oh, no you're not!"

"Why not, Max?" Candlemon protested. "I mean, another Digimon would be cool to have around."

"How many of you guys ARE there, anyway?"

"The whole Digital World's worth."

Alexis turned around and smiled at Candlemon. "There's a whole Digimon World? What's it like?!"

"Well, there's mountains, cities, hills, buildings… you name it!"

"See, Alexis?" Max scoffed. "It's no different from Osaka. Why would we want to delve deeper into this Digimon stuff?"

"Because the pets are cool and we could see a ton more of them!" she argued.

Max shrugged. "It's useless debating with you, isn't it?"

- - -

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Mr. Hiroshi said impatiently to Jen and Veemon, who were still on the ground eating. "_Get up!_" Hiroshi kicked over Veemon's soda.

"Hey!" Veemon was angered and got up. "That's good food you're messing with there!"

"This fast food bullcrap isn't 'good food.' Now get up, I have stories to tell."

Jen got up and mocked, "But my mommy says to nevew talk to stwangers."

"You think you're funny?" Mr. Hiroshi turned and stared at Jen menacingly. "This is a matter of international security."

"Blah, blah, blah, I swear to God I've heard this in one of those American Bruce Willis movies…"

Mr. Hiroshi proceeded to grab Jen by the arm and pull her closer in frustration. He whispered, "Look. If you want to make jokes about the downfall of technology, that's fine. But if you want to put this blue menace here to use, you should come with me." He let go of her. Jen grabbed her wrist in annoyance..

"What, is Veemon gonna eat the power lines or something?" Jen noticed several onlookers from in and out of McDonald's staring at the occurrence. "Fine. I'll go."

Mr. Hiroshi nodded and led Jen and Veemon to his car, finally calmed down.

- - -

Mr. Hiroshi drove the two down to the Osaka Police Station. Jen had a frightened feeling in the pit of her stomach, as if she'd done something wrong. "Don't worry," Hiroshi assured them. "We just need you two to see somebody."

"Who?" Jen wondered.

"His name is Commander Yamasaki. He needs your help with protecting the Real World."

"Protection from what?"

"The Digital Monsters. Somebody has taken our product and taken it out of proportion. There's a whole alternate dimension based off of our creation. Take Veemon for example."

"I'm a toy?" Veemon said stupidly.

"No, you were created by one. I wish I could explain it to you." He pulled into the station parking lot. "I'll let the Commander explain it."

Jen and Veemon exited the car and made their way into the front door of the police station. It seemed rather murky inside, and there was nobody in there, not even at the front desk, except for one man, obviously older, sitting on the bench near the desk. He wore a blue police-like suit and had short, gray hair and a gray mustache. "This is the Commander."

Commander Yamasaki stood up to shake Jen's hand. "Why, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jen." He nodded to Mr. Hiroshi, who took it as a signal to leave. "Thank you, Hiroshi. Get back to the labs, if you wish."

"How did you find me?" Jen asked. "And how are you and that rude guy associated?"

"Hiroshi has his moments," the Commander laughed, "but don't worry. I used to be in charge of productions at the V-Pet factory, but both Hiroshi and I were fired when it was said that we were stealing prototype plans for the devices. We were told that we were pushing the idea outside the boundaries of proportion.

"I found you because the 'D-Cell' you possess is my own creation. I track them using my computer. But first, tell me… are there any others in the same situation as you? I don't want to explain this to you and then have to repeat myself to someone else."

Jen shook off her obliviousness. "Uh… this kid from my school, his name's Max Miyotama. He has one with a red trim instead of a blue one."

Commander Yamasaki smiled. "Well, then, do show me where this Max boy lives."

**A/N: This one's not quite as lengthy as the previous two (about 450 words less than Chapter Two), but it gets what I had in mind down. And yes, in case you didn't know, McDonald's IS international. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Master and Commander

Max knocked on Jared's family's apartment door. He waited patiently for a moment. A rustle came to the doorknob, and a tall woman opened it. She had medium-length brown hair, a white apron, and a beige undershirt and pants. "Why, Max! What a pleasant surprise. Do you need anything?"

"Yes, Mrs. Kabumi," he responded, "can I talk to your son for a minute?"

"Sure, come on in," Mrs. Kabumi waved him in. "He's in his room, playing on the computer I think."

Max walked down the hall to a wooden door on his left. A red sign was hung on the front by a nail, "Digimon Crossing". Max sighed and opened the door rudely, without knocking.

"Hey, Jared," Max greeted him, but soon noticed something odd. Next to Jared's computer chair was a four-foot tall blue robotic insect. He had features of a beetle, with multiple eyes, a horn on his head, and red spikes protruding from his back. He had gigantic silver claws on each hand as well. "Uh… bug problem?"

Jared took Max's entrance by surprise and turned away from his computer. "Oh! H-hi there… uh… Max, right?"

"Don't tell me. You have a Digimon too?"

"Yeah… his name is KoKabuterimon. I saw you guys out in that Digital Field earlier this evening. Candlemon and Veemon are a cool team. Where are they anyway?"

"Candlemon's back in my room and Jen and Veemon went on their own path. Why didn't you say anything to us?"

"I thought I'd be weird if I did." He dug in one of the drawers in his computer desk and pulled out a cell phone, very similar to Max's. His device was lime green instead of red, though. "Did you get one of these, too? My Digimon V-Pet turned into it when I was playing online with my Numemon."

"Hehe. I think you were fighting my sister. Were you against a… Salmon, I think she said?"

"You probably mean Salamon. Yeah, that was my opponent. It was before KoKabuterimon showed up in my room… which was just a few moments ago!"

KoKabuterimon finally approached Max. He seemed intimidating, but he spoke quite contrarily in his childish voice. "Greetings. I've not acquainted with you yet. I'm KoKabuterimon, a Rookie Digimon." KoKabuterimon extended his claw for a shake, and Max grabbed onto one of his silver talons. He let KoKabuterimon do the shaking.

"He's pretty friendly."

Max smiled. "I noticed. Nice to meet ya!"

"You know… since you guys have Digimon too, maybe we should all hang out sometime. That park down by that high school sounds good, don't it?"

"Yeah. You go there?"

"Not till next year. I'm 13. Eight grade in middle school."

"Oh. Well, we get out of school at the same time, true? How about we hang out there after?"

"Sounds quite pleasing," KoKabuterimon nodded.

"Good with me," Jared gave a thumbs up.

- - -

Alexis heard a knock on the door. Sighing, she got up from her computer chair, her purple trimmed phone in her hand, and walked from her room to the front door. She opened it and stared at the older looking man and Jen next to him.

"My name is Commander Yamasaki. Is Max Miyotama here?" the man asked. He looked down at Alexis' hand, which was holding the purple trimmed cell phone. "And… is that your brother's phone?"

"Nope, it's mine," she responded calmly. "My brother's next door if you need him."

"Actually, you'll do."

Alexis had a questioned look on her face, but Jen winked at her. She held the door open for the Commander, Jen, and Veemon as they walked into the Miyotama's family room.

"My parents aren't home," Alexis warned them, "so try not to break anything." She pulled out her "new" cell phone and dialed a number. She was attempting to see if it worked by calling her brother's actual cell phone number.

"Hello… Max, there's someone at our house… Commander Yamaha I think?… He has Jen with her… No, he hasn't stolen anything… Okay. Bye." She flipped the phone closed. "I guess these things work, huh?"

As soon as Jen smiled back at her, Max entered the room with Jared and KoKabuterimon behind him. He said, "Hey, guys. What's going on?"

Jen and Alexis stared at the short, yet sturdy, bug monster behind Jared. "Is that… his Digimon?" Jen asked, pointing at KoKabuterimon.

"Yeah, he's KoKabuterimon," Jared patted the monster on his sharp back.

"Pleased to meet you all, Jen, Alexis, Commander…" KoKabuterimon bowed for them.

"He's pretty polite, eh?" Jen noted. "What do you need us for, erm… Commander?"

The Commander sat himself down on the living room couch, as did Jen, Veemon and Alexis. Jared and Max sat in chairs next to the brown leather couch, and KoKabuterimon stood.

"I notice you all have a D-Cell on you," Commander Yamasaki stated. "The D-Cell is a creation of my experimentation at the V-Pet factory. Sadly, the program had hit the Internet, unintentionally on my part, and its data was released to random computers around the city before I could stop it. Thank goodness it didn't spread around the world. That is why when you connected some electronic devices to your computers, they transformed abruptly. In some cases, as I gathered from Jen's word, it opened a portal for a Digimon to enter this world as well…"

"Yeah," Jen confirmed. "Max and I got our Digimon around the same time."

"I never got one…" Alexis frowned.

"Mine's in my room," Max stated. "Alexis, you were supposed to let him out."

"It's okay, Max, I have arms!" Candlemon's voice came from behind the couch and hovered over to Max's vicinity. "Sorry I'm… well, late, I suppose. I heard you guys talking."

"Good, good," Commander Yamasaki stroked his bushy beard. "Alexis, I'm sure yours will appear sometime soon. They all materialize in Digital Fields. I know you've encountered those, as Jen tells me. Those misty areas that normally contain a Digimon?"

They nodded.

"Those are breaks in the Digital World's barriers. With you guys and the power of the D-Cells, you may be able to defend this city from them!"

"Like superheroes?" Max exclaimed. "Cool! Digi Sentai Digiranger! Hiya!" Max pulled off a rather embarrassing kick move in his seat.

"Not exactly," Commander Yamasaki laughed. "Right now, there's a Digimon named Kimeramon spreading a disease-like virus around the DigiWorld. What I need is you guys to take a journey to the Digital World and stop it."

"How do you know so much about the Digital World?" Jen asked curiously.

Commander Yamasaki paused for a moment and hesitated with his next answer. "Because I've been there once before. I developed a gateway via my computer that can take you there."

"Sweet!" Jared exclaimed, but then clasped his mouth.

"So it IS possible for us to go to the Digital World?" Max wondered. "Weird."

"What's it like there?" Jared asked, but everyone looked at him strange.

"Well, there's mountains and cities and hills-"

"_We know,_" Jen asserted. "But is it dangerous going there?"

Commander Yamasaki paused suspiciously. "Oh, it's no problem. It's a bit of a bumpy ride, you know… going through a bunch of, erm… data and all."

The kids shrugged. "Alright, are you guys with this?"

Max and Alexis nodded, and Jared smiled. He in particular seemed really excited.

"Okay then," Max stood up. "Let's go-"

"One last thing," Commander Yamasaki interrupted.

"What?"

"Don't tell your parents. I don't exactly have everything planned out yet… but I'll get back to you."

- - -

"Man, I can't wait!" Jared exclaimed, walking down the apartment steps with Jen, Veemon, Max, Candlemon, Alexis and KoKabuterimon. The Commander had left just before. "This is going to be extremely interesting!"

"Does anyone else get a weird vibe about this guy?" Jen wondered. "He seemed really slow when we asked him questions…"

"I think that's just because he's _old_," Alexis giggled.

Jen looked both ways at the head of the pack before crossing the street at an intersection. "I'm still not too sure about this. I just acted sure because I didn't want to let the poor old guy down."

Veemon stopped after they'd crossed the street. He pointed his spiked nose to the air and sniffed around. "I sense another Digital Field, Jen!"

Jen sighed. "Another one?!"

Candlemon and KoKabuterimon stopped as well and looked around. Like a magnet, the three Digimon pulled themselves down the street some more, toward Jen's apartment!

"Uh oh... it's not by my home, is it?"

The kids followed the three Digimon down the sidewalk for a while until they came to the apartment building Jen's family resided in. Nearby, as expected, was a massive glob of misty light. A Digital Field.

"I say we head in," Jen said just as they came to a stop.

"We don't know what could be in there this time, though…" Alexis worried.

"We never do. So I'm going in! Come on, Veemon!" Jen started into the field. Deciding they couldn't let their ally go in alone, Max, Candlemon, Jared, KoKabuterimon and Alexis entered as well.

Inside the field, Max quickly shielded his eyes, as did Alexis. Jared, wearing glasses, seemed to be doing fine. "Prescription lenses," he boasted. "They adjust to light."

Jen pulled her goggles over her eyes. In the field, which was in the apartment building's parking lot, they spotted a dinosaur Digimon nearby. He was blue, and on each arm, instead of a hand, was a lizard head. The one to his left was a skeletal cranium, while the other looked like it belonged to a mechanical lizard. The Digimon also had an odd-shaped white tipped snout.

Jen expected input from her D-Cell, and pulled it out and opened it like the flip phone it was. A holographic display appeared from the screen, and Jen read it off. "Deltamon, a Champion Digimon. His special attacks are Triple Forces and Serpent Bite!"

"That thing sure is useful," Max spoke his opinion before Deltamon turned his head to face the group. He had his skull head clasped shut, and the silence of the night was broken with the sound of light chirping. "What's that noise?"

"I don't know," Veemon said, "but his left hand's hiding something." Veemon got a running start before ramming his head into the head on Deltamon's left arm. "Vee Head Butt!"

Deltamon took this blow with surprise and opened his left hand. Out flew a small spherical Digimon with yellow feathered skin and a long fluff of orange hair sprouting from the top of it. Alexis ran in a hurry and caught the monster in her arms.

"Friend!" the small Digimon chirped.

**A/N: I forgot to mention this last chapter, but Mr. Hiroshi has _no relation_ to Hiroshi Yushima from Digimon Savers/Data Squad.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Deltamon Force

Alexis stared at the yellow bird in her arms. "Hey Max!" she called her brother over. "Take a look at this bird over here!"

Max approached Alexis, still shielding his eyes, as Veemon, KoKabuterimon and Candlemon attacked Deltamon. "That ain't a bird… that's a Digimon!"

"Or else it's some weird species from Tokyo or something," Jen chuckled. She turned her head and noticed the three Rookies were fighting a losing battle with the Champion level enemy.

"Vee Punch!" Veemon thrust his right fist at Deltamon's actual head. KoKabuterimon flew in from behind and held one of Deltamon's arms behind his back.

Candlemon stood from a distance and fired a fireball from his wick, "Flame Bomber!" the attack hit Deltamon right in the chest, and Candlemon fired more flaming spheres in a rapid succession, each seemingly doing the same amount of damage. Deltamon flinched with each impact.

In anger, the three-headed Digimon freed himself from KoKabuterimon's grip and knocked him to the side. He clenched Veemon in his right arm head and tossed him across the lot. As Candlemon fired more small fireballs, Deltamon caught each one in his left skull head's mouth and they seemingly caused no harm.

"Friend!" the bird Digimon chirped once again.

"I think he likes you, Alexis," Jen proposed.

"I don't think it's a guy…" she debated, "it seems like a girl to me."

The small chick nodded in agreement. "Girl! Not guy!"

Alexis smiled. "See, _she_ agrees with me!"

Deltamon succeeded in knocking all three Rookies to the ground. He opened his triad of mouths and faced them all in his enemy's direction. "Triple Forces!" all three mouths roared as he sent a mass of energy from each mouth and each shot hit one of the Rookie Digimon.

"Veemon!" Jen cried.

"Candlemon!" Max shouted.

"KoKabuterimon, no!" Jared yelled.

Deltamon roared as the three Digimon struggled to recovered. Veemon groaned, "I have to protect… Jen…"

"Veemon, get up!" his partner called out to him. "Don't let the city down!"

Veemon finally rose to his feet and clenched his fist. Slowly, but surely, he rushed toward Deltamon head first. "Vee… **Head Butt**!" he shouted wearily. His head pounded into Deltamon's stomach, but did not seem to affect him in any way.

"Veemon, no!" Jen shouted. Veemon was knocked away from Deltamon's area and was back on the ground again.

"Jen… I can't do it…" Veemon couldn't keep fighting much longer.

"Veemon, please! Don't give up!"

Veemon squinted his eyes at Deltamon in anger. "Alright… I'm sick of you, you… jerk!" Veemon got up, grasping his arm in pain. "You're going… **down**."

Jen's D-Cell began to shake violently and she pulled it out of her pocket. "What's going on…?" A bright light, much more illuminant than ever, shined from it to the point where you could barely tell what the device was anymore.

Veemon stood up, energy surging around him. "Jen… stand back!"

"Wha-… Veemon…"

Veemon clenched his fists. The small bird Digimon chirped and squinted her eyes at the blinding light. Deltamon looked on, a strange facial expression, as if he was wondering what was happening.

A voice emitted from the D-Cell, "**Initiate Digivolution Matrix.**"

Veemon groaned with power as his body grew tremendously.

"_Veemon digivolve to…_"

Veemon's form became more dinosaur shaped. He seemed to have blue and white skin still, but he had a much longer horn on his snout, in the sharp shape of a steel blade. Two horns jutted from where his blue "ears" once were. His body was much more muscular and menacing, and he had a long, blue tail and white claws on his large hands and feet. Appropriately, he also had a blue "V" in the square of his chest.

"…_**Veedramon!**_"

Deltamon took a step back to accommodate with Veedramon's equal size. Veedramon was the same height, although Deltamon appeared to have a bit more girth.

But that meant nothing to either of them as they stared each other down.

Jen's mouth remained agape at the sight of Veedramon. "Dude… did I make that?!"

KoKabuterimon and Candlemon slowly backed away from the battle area of the parking lot, which still was the cleared part with very few parked automobiles.

Veedramon, before seeming in no hurry, pulled his fist back and leaped at Deltamon, throwing his arm forward and punching Deltamon directly in the gut. Deltamon flew backwards into a wall near the parking lot that separated the apartment and the building next to it. Deltamon's weight destroyed it, though, so it was certainly now in need of repair.

Deltamon retaliated by lifting up a nearby car with his left arm and hurling it in Veedramon's direction. Veedramon was knocked back by the force of the car, and the vehicle exploded in his face.

"V… Veedramon!" Jen stuttered, but was surprised to see Veedramon recover from the attack.

"I'm fine, Jen!" Veedramon said in a more mature and slightly raspy voice. "Don't worry, I got this handled." Veedramon leaped up to his feet and pulled his head back and tossed it forward, mouth wide open. A blue flame in the shape of a "V" fired directly at Deltamon. "V-NOVA BLAST!"

Deltamon was hit right in the chest and flew backwards into a truck, damaging himself and the automobile. His data disintegrated, and Veedramon reacted quickly to this. Before it could integrate into a red orb, Veedramon absorbed the data into his body like a vacuum.

"Wow…" Jen smiled at her Digimon, who stared at her with menacing eyes. The light fog cleared around them, and the destruction of the apartment parking lot still remained. "Veedramon… why are you looking at me like that?"

Without notice, Veedramon turned away from Jen and leaped into the distance, completely ignoring the others.

"Chichimon scared!" the bird Digimon chirped in sadness.

Alexis looked down at the monster in her arms. "Chichimon? That's your name?"

The monster nodded, still with an expression of sadness.

"VEEDRAMON!" Jen cried out for her Digimon as he stomped his way through the street with uncontrolled anger. "What's wrong with him? Why did I let him digivolve?"

"We have to stop him!" Max stated. "Jen, you're his partner, you can help!"

Jen pulled out her D-Cell and looked around it. "There's no 'de-digivolve' button or anything! What do you want me to do?!" She must have meant for this question to remain unanswered. Quickly, Jen darted down the street in the direction of Veedramon.

"Maybe if she could control herself a bit more…" KoKabuterimon proposed calmly, "then Veedramon would control himself too."

"That's bullcrap!" Max turned to the Digimon in anger. "What do you know anyhow?"

"I'm actually more of a thinker than a fighter, Max, sir."

Max waved him off in annoyance and took off with Candlemon at his side, chasing after Jen. Alexis, Chichimon, Jared and KoKabuterimon reluctantly followed him.

- - -

Veedramon smashed through the city street, demolishing several cars in his way. He seemed to be filled with a never-ending bucket of frustration.

Jen had chased him down, the others not far behind her. "Veedramon, stop it!" she called out, but to no fruition. Veedramon just kept on trudging.

"Jen, don't chase after him!" Candlemon said. "He'll hurt you!"

"Veemon would never hurt me!" Jen shook off the idea. "He's my friend!"

The group paused for a moment. Max ran over and clasped her shoulder. "Jen… does THAT look like a guy you'd go bowling with?!" he pointed at Veedramon.

Jen brushed off Max's hand. "I don't need you to preach to me." She dashed down through the street again, still pursuing Veedramon.

"Jen, you need to stop!" KoKabuterimon flew off with surprising speed after Jen. Jared remained close behind, albeit not in the most athletic fashion.

Max raised his arms to the air in surrender. "Whatever. I give. She can goose chase that stupid dinosaur all around town, but I'm not delving any deeper into this Digimon crap than I have to. Alexis, Candlemon… erm, bird thing, let's go home."

- - -

_I'm too tired for this. It's probably ten at night and I'm chasing a ten foot dinosaur around the busy city with a geeky kid I don't even know and his buggy friend. I miss Uyeda…_

Jen shook off her feelings for a moment, panting and coming to a street corner. She couldn't chase Veedramon all night.

Jared and KoKabuterimon arrived behind her. Jared said exhaustedly, "Jen, you need to control your emotions if you want to stop Veedramon! Your anger is what triggered his evolution to begin with!"

Jen thought for a moment. "But… I wasn't angry. I just wanted him to win…"

"Well, whatever it may be," KoKabuterimon said, "you need to let it go."

Jen held her hand against the nearby building wall and took a few deep breaths. She gripped her D-Cell in her hand, "Okay, I'm ready." Jen walked defiantly down the road. Her stride reflected her emotions greatly.

But there was something odd.

A Digital Field slowly emerged in the middle of the street where Veedramon last stood!

"Veedramon?" Jen panicked, losing her cool as well as her "heroic" step. "Veedramon, get out of there!" Jen picked up speed, again with Jared and KoKabuterimon behind her, and ran into the Digital Field. She pulled her goggles over her eyes in preparation.

Inside the field was Veemon lying on the paved concrete road. In any other situation, Jen would be happy to see him. But in front of Veemon, staring menacingly, was a gigantic quadruped dinosaur with gray skin and black plating on his body, prominently on his head and back, and on his legs. Protruding perpendicularly from his nose was a long black horn. And boy, did he look mad.

_Veemon… why aren't you running?!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Fire Burst

Pieces of scorched metal lay nearby the side of the curb. Apparently, the prehistoric monster had destroyed a vehicle moments before.

"Veemon!" Jen exclaimed. "Get up!"

Veemon brushed himself off, getting back up. He wobbled awkwardly over to Jen and Jared, as KoKabuterimon took care of the dinosaur. "I'm… sorry, Jen…" he mumbled.

"It's okay, buddy…" Jen smiled, holding his shoulder so that he didn't fall. "Take a break. Sit down."

"You were just telling me to get up a second ago, Jen… but okay."

The three watched as KoKabuterimon leaped onto the dinosaur's back and held on. He began scratching at its back, attempting to do some damage.

Jen pulled out her D-Cell and read his statistics. "He's Monochromon, a Champion level Dinosaur Digimon. His special attack is Volcanic Strike…"

Monochromon tossed KoKabuterimon off of his back. KoKabuterimon did not fall to the ground, however, and hovered in the air. He then charged at Monochromon, still in flight, and rammed his rather horn into the Digimon's side, knocking him over with surprising force.

"Wow!" Jen gasped.

Jared chuckled, "Yeah, I don't think I ever mentioned KoKabuterimon has the strength to lift up at least two cars…"

"With both arms?"

"Err, no. One." He smiled. He was slightly disappointed when he looked over at his Digimon and notice him battle damaged on the ground. "But apparently he's not making use of it."

- - -

"I'm telling you, Max, I feel like we made a big mistake."

Max, Alexis, Candlemon and Chichimon walked down the sidewalk, eyeing the destruction Veedramon had recently left in his wake.

"Look, Candlemon," Max sighed, "I know you think I must hate you or something because I'm ignoring you. I don't. I just don't like this whole Digimon thing, and I really don't like you, either."

Candlemon paused, leaving the rest to walk on without him. "Wait… if you don't hate me, why do you not like me?"

"There's a difference between 'dislike' and 'hate', Candlemon. Allow me to explain…" Max cleared his throat formally until Alexis interrupted him.

"What's wrong, Chichimon?" Alexis held the baby Digimon in her arms as it chirped uncontrollably. "You miss Veemon too?"

"Max, we _need_ to go back," Candlemon warned. "I have a feeling that Veemon is in huge trouble."

"Candlemon, that's just a feeling," Max sighed. "Feelings aren't important."

Alexis gasped. "Of all things you could say, Max?!"

"It's true!"

Candlemon sighed. "Alexis, do YOU want to go help Jen and Veedramon?"

Alexis nodded, as did Chichimon.

Candlemon said, "Alright, Max. We're going without you. Have fun!"

"But I-" Max watched as his Digimon and his sister took off in the opposite direction. "Well… if you can't beat 'em… join 'em."

- - -

Monochromon faced down the injured Veemon and KoKabuterimon. "Where is The Master?" he roared.

"Master?" Veemon muttered weakly. "There's… no master here…"

"I'm afraid he's correct," KoKabuterimon added weakly. "We follow nobody's… orders. We work… as a team."

Monochromon was clearly frustrated. "_Where_ is The Master?"

"We don't have time for this!" Jen exclaimed. "You either leave peacefully, or we do it by force."

"Jen, I wouldn't threaten that…" Jared hesitated. "I mean, look what he's done to them so far."

Jen realized Veemon and KoKabuterimon were in no better shape to fight than they, as humans, were. "We're pretty much fu--"

"JEN!" Alexis' voice entered the Digital Field, a gleeful tone frosted upon it.

"Jared, we're back!" Candlemon also said, floating in from behind them. Max was tailing him, with a reluctant look on his face.

"Glad you could make it, guys," Jared smiled.

"Yeah, whatever," Max scoffed. "I only came back because I don't want your guys' lives on my conscience."

"Gee, nice much?" Jen asked sarcastically, then looked back at Monochromon.

"Where is THE MASTER?!" he roared and stomped ferociously on the paved street, created a small localized earthquake around him. The ground shook noticeably, but it wasn't enough to cause harm.

Candlemon charged up the flame upon his wick. "Flame Bomber!" he fired several fireballs in rapid succession in Monochromon's direction, but the monster easily shook them off.

"Chichimon, help him!" Alexis begged her yellow friend. The Digimon responded by chirping in fear.

Monochromon seemed only provoked even more by the attacks of Candlemon. He growled violently and tossed himself in Candlemon's direction. Monochromon's head landed right into him, barely missing the use of his sharp horn.

"Candlemon!" Max cried. Monochromon then approached Max and knocked him to the ground. Menacingly, he lowered his horn to Max's face as he lay helpless. "WHERE IS THE MASTER?!" Monochromon used the top of his horn to snatch Max up by the collar of his shirt and hold him in the air.

"P-put me down!" Max tried not to struggle in fear that he may fall to the cement ground.

"MAX!" Candlemon yelled with a scared look on his waxy face. "I'm comin' for ya, buddy!"

Max's Digivice began glowing inside of his pocket. He pulled it out, still managing to keep his balance as he hung from Monochromon's ebony horn.

A robotic tone vocalized from the D-Cell, "**Initiate Digivolution Matrix.**"

Candlemon began glowing as well, showing a stature of empowerment.

"_Candlemon digivolve to…_"

Candlemon hovered even further above ground, changing shape dramatically. He assumed the height and shape of a normal adult male.

"…_**MERAMON!**_"

Meramon was a humanoid man engulfed in crimson flames. His mouth appeared to be sewn shut.

"Put my friend down!" Meramon demanded.

"Wow!" Max smiled, leaving his mouth agape. "Candlemon can do _that?_"

"You bet I can!" Meramon chuckled and held his right index and middle fingers in the air together. From the tip of them appeared a roaring flame. "Fireball!"

Meramon shot a flaming sphere at Monochromon. The force of the blast caused Monochromon to flinch and almost stumble over. He was ready and able to prepare another attack, until he looked over in Alexis' direction.

A glowing Chichimon flew out of Alexis' arms. "…_**Penguinmon!**_" she exclaimed happily. In excitement, the penguin Digimon waddled over to Monochromon and seemed to slap the monster's front left leg endlessly! Meramon leaped into the air and snatched Max from Monochromon as Penguinmon distracted him.

Monochromon lifted his leg up and hovered it over Penguinmon. Meramon quickly slid under the foot on his back and knocked Penguinmon out of the way. He grabbed the leg and pushed Monochromon over on his side.

Max said, "Meramon! His stomach is a weak point! He has no armor there!"

Meramon noticed that by pushing Monochromon on his side, his chest in its entirety was exposed. "I got ya, Max!" Meramon charged himself up in flame, more than usual, and dashed into Monochromon's chest. "FIRE BURST!"

Meramon seemed to soar right through Monochromon, engulfed in a heavy amount of crimson fire. The Digimon transformed into pure data before materializing into a red ball. Meramon brushed his hands off in triumphant haughtiness before degenerating into Candlemon and picking up the sphere.

Penguinmon waddled back over to Alexis and smiled brightly through her beak. "Penguinmon do good?"

Alexis clasped her lips shut to hold in her excitement. She finally had a Digimon!

The fog around the area slowly faded as the kids moved out of the battle scarred street.

Veemon got up and walked over to his partner. "Hey Jen…?"

Jen looked down at her Digimon, "What?"

"I'm sorry."

Jen looked confused. "Sorry about what? You have nothing to be sorry for."

Veemon smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah!" Jen giggled. "You did your best, right?"

Veemon began to get a bit _too_ excited. "Psh, heck no! If I were at my best, I'd have become UltraVeedramon Super Mode and smashed Monochromon to pieces!"

Jared looked to KoKabuterimon. "Is what he said even possible?"

KoKabuterimon chuckled, "Not in a million years, my friend…"

- - -

"Mindless data at the bottom of the Digital Ocean… that's all you seem to be able to give me." A male human, quite older looking, sat in his office next to a surveillance computer.

"I'm giving you nothing but the best, sir," a demonic disembodied voice called out to him.

"You must be joking. The monsters you've supplied me with do not even know how to track me, regardless of the fact that I'm _telepathically commanding _them! Digital bastard."

The man groaned and pulled several wires from his cranium that were connected to the machine. He wore a name tag on his blue uniform shirt.

"Yamasaki."

**A/N: Lol. Shortest chapter ever. :P but it got what I had in mind down pretty well.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A Day in the Life

"You sure you guys don't want to sleep over?" Max asked. "We could fit you guys in the living area."

"Nah, it's getting late," Jen responded. "Veemon's had a pretty long day…"

Veemon rubbed his eyes in apparent agreement. "I need… bed… gah."

Alexis smiled down at Penguinmon. "I guess we should get some rest too, huh?"

Penguinmon flapped her wings positively.

"Seeya Jen!" Jared waved goodbye to Jen and Veemon as he, his partner, Max, and Alexis took off in the opposite direction.

"That was fun, eh Veemon?" Jen asked her Digimon excitedly.

Veemon was barely awake in the night air. A clock on a nearby building read 22:15. "Yeah… you can say that again…"

The two remained silent for the rest of the walk home until Jen came to her apartment doorstep. The door was unlocked. Her mom must have been home. The two stepped in, and Veemon tried to keep quiet.

Jen walked into her living room and slumped into the couch. Her parents must have been in bed already, and she quickly fell asleep on the couch with Veemon on the floor next to it.

- - -

"You know, Max," Alexis attempted conversation back in their room with her brother, "I kinda miss my Digimon game."

"What's wrong with Penguinmon?" Max wondered, gathering his pajamas for bed. "She's pretty cool."

Penguinmon giggled. "Yay!"

"It's not that anything's wrong with her…" Alexis examined her D-Cell. "It's just that we have more responsibility when we have real Digimon."

"You were complaining for a while about not _getting_ a real Digimon," Candlemon noted. "Do you regret that already, you goofball?"

Alexis shrugged and smiled. "I guess not. Penguinmon will be fun to have around!"

Penguinmon flapped her wings in joy. "Penguinmon digivolve to… MegaPenguindramon!"

"Hehe, right on!"

Max took his clothes into the bathroom while Alexis quickly changed into some light blue pajamas and laid down on the bottom bunk of the bed. Penguinmon leaped onto it as well.

"Penguinmon, you're too hyper for Alexis right now," Candlemon joked, hovering up to Max's top bunk. "She needs to sleep!"

"Don't worry, Penguinmon," Alexis whispered, "Candlemon's just a party pooper. We'll have our own fun tonight!"

Penguinmon squawked in overexcitement yet again.

"But you gotta be quiet!" she shushed her.

Max walked into the room with red pajamas on and climbed up to the top bunk. "G'night, sis…"

"Good night, Max!" Alexis and Penguinmon giggled, but Max paid no attention to them.

- - -

Max yawned and sat up in his bed. Candlemon wasn't in front of him, strangely, and neither Alexis nor Penguinmon were on the bottom bunk. The alarm clock on his computer desk said 7:25.

"She beat me to waking up _again_?"

Max hobbled out of his bed, half awake, and walked out to the kitchen. He noticed his mother, a fair, brunette woman with medium-length hair and a fuchsia tinted apron, cooking eggs over the stove. His sister, and surprisingly, the two Digimon, were sitting at the table.

"WHA?! Candlemon! What'd I tell you about keeping this a secret?"

Mrs. Miyotama laughed. "It's okay, Max. I've been informed about the Digimon thing."

"But… Commander Yamas--"

His mom interrupted, "You go ahead and take care of your little school project. As long as it gets your grades up."

Alexis winked.

Max smiled and lied, "Whew, for a moment I thought you weren't going to let me keep my paper maché monster at home!" He sat down next to his sister at the table and whispered, "I didn't think you'd have the guts to use our little excuse. I was prepared for the worst."

"You can count on me," Alexis whispered back with a corny thumbs up. Mrs. Miyotama flopped a few eggs sunny-side up onto two plates and placed them in front of Max and Alexis.

- - -

Jen woke up to the sound of a door slamming. She jerked herself upward and looked around, noticing a nearby clock that read 11:34. Almost noon!

"_Crap_," Jen sighed. "Late for school." Looking down over the side of the couch, she noticed Veemon wasn't there. She noticed her bedroom door closed and was prompted to go in there and look for him.

Jen stepped in her room and saw Veemon sleeping soundly on her bed. She smiled and walked over to the bed and shook him awake. "Hey, who said you could sleep up here?"

Veemon awoke, "J.. Jen? You should be at school, shouldn't you?"

"Don't worry about that. Why'd you sleep in here?"

"I didn't want your parents to see me…" Veemon rubbed his eyes and got off the bed.

"Wow, I really didn't know you were that thoughtful," Jen chuckled. "Well, I guess school can go a day without me. It's just Friday, after all, and my parents won't know. They're at work by now."

"Friday must mean a fun day, huh?"

"Haha. I have a feeling it won't be _all_ fun today."

- - -

"So you're not coming to school?" Max asked Jen over the phone at lunch time. The cafeteria was filled with kids chattering, and Max was at a table where that was no exception. "That's what you get for oversleeping."

"_It's no big deal. I haven't had a sick day in a few weeks,_" she chuckled. "_I can still meet you outside at the park afterwards if you want._"

"That's a good plan. Any word on Uyeda yet?" The loud noise of the high school kids in the lunch room made it hard to hear his friend.

"_No… I'm definitely worried. You think some evil Digimon snatched him or something?_"

"Ha, I doubt that. Why Uyeda of all people? He was new to the city this year, he's the last person they'd come after."

Jen's voice laughed. "_You're right. Well, I'll see you after school, Veemon's playing DDR in the living room._"

"Sounds like regular Veemon to me. Alright, later." He smiled and hung up, turning back to the kids at his table to chat.

- - -

"You done out there, buddy?" Jen walked out of her bedroom and saw Veemon, almost exhausted, finishing up on a Dance Dance Revolution song.

"Yeah… this is… hard, Jen!" Veemon panted. "Can we go… do something else?"

"We can go up to the park later and see Max and the others. They'll have just gotten out of class, so they probably won't have their Digimon. But you'll still have fun, right?"

Veemon nodded, almost as if he didn't care, and looked back at the PS2 as they walked out the front door. "Are all video games like that…?"

"No, a lot of them require you to just sit down and press buttons."

"That's _boring_, Jen."

Boredom ceased when Jen's D-Cell began to ring. Reluctantly, as she exited her apartment, she answered. "Hello?… Oh, hey Commander."

- - -

Commander Yamasaki sat at his office desk with a microphone headset on his head. "Greetings, Jen."

"_Why are you calling me right now? If I weren't home from school I'd be in big trouble._"

"Your friend Max called me and told me around twelve."

"_Oh._"

"Which is very convenient for me. I need you to come down to my office. Don't worry, it's relatively close to your house. Care for an address?"

"_Okay. Lemme get a pen._"

- - -

Jen wrote down a few notes on a small sheet of paper. "Okay, thanks, Commander. See you in a bit." She hung up.

""What does he need, Jen?" Veemon wondered.

"He needs us to go to his office… which, strangely, isn't at the police station. He says it's close to the McDonald's we were at yesterday."

"That's cool." Veemon seemed very nonchalant as the pair walked down the apartment steps.

"You like the Real World much?"

"It's pretty interesting, actually. And fun! You and Max and the others are great friends."

"Well, good then… 'cause I've changed my mind about you over the past day."

"You don't hate me anymore?"

"I will admit, you're kind of a burden…" Jen paused, "but I could get used to having someone as energetic as you around my house."

The two were silent for the rest of the walk. Reasons why they didn't communicate on long strides like this were unknown to either of them. It easily could have just been that their physical language was more prominent than their verbal. Like a real Digimon's human partner should be.

Arriving at the office building, Jen had a rather hypnotized look on her face. "What's up?" Veemon asked. "Are we gonna go in?"

Jen looked down at her piece of paper and back up at the building a couple of times. "Yeah, it's just…" she paused and gazed at the small structure, "this building was never here before. It's always been a blank lot here with a bunch of dead grass."

"I've seen this building before," Veemon confirmed, "I'm sure it's always been here, Jen."

"But I've lived in Osaka my whole life. I guess maybe it's easy to forget small things in this huge city. Wanna go in?"

"Well, duh. The Commander dude obviously wants us." The pair nodded to each other and walked through the building's front doors. The secretary room was empty as could be, so they traveled down the very bland looking hallway with plain white walls, checking each room along the way. Commander Yamasaki wasn't in any of them.

Jen and Veemon had made it to the end of the hallway, and there was no sign of anybody in the building. Just a big red button on a wall. "Where could he be?" Jen asked, not expecting any reasonable answer. "And why is there a button here?"

Veemon walked to the end of the hall and stared at the floor. A large metal slate in the shape of a square lay where he was looking. "I think he might be in the floor, Jen."

Jen approached the plate and kicked it with the heel of her shoe. "That's called a basement, if there's anything under here. And how the hell do I open it?" She kicked it again. This time, the door collapsed inward and Jen fell through unexpectedly. She screamed the whole way down the dark chute.

Veemon stared down the hole in a daze for a moment. He was slightly intrigued by the fact that there were, as far as he knew, random holes in the ground in the Real World, even in the emptiest and blandest of hallways in abandoned office buildings. Veemon shook himself out of his daydream and, rather stupidly, leaped into the hole himself head first. "I'll save you, Jen!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: A Whole New World

"_**WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**_"

"Jen, this is SO COOL!"

Jen and Veemon slid down the chute for several moments until they hit the ground ever so suddenly, one at a time. Jen rubbed her butt as she got up, but Veemon was still giddy with excitement.

"Dude, is this that theme park thing you were telling me about, Jen?" Veemon asked at fifty words a second.

Jen was busy staring at the futuristic lab they had literally fallen for. She looked in admiration at the chrome walls, much in comparison to the boring white paint upstairs. Large computer monitors stand in front of equally proportioned processing units, each with a desk and keyboard in front of it. Large stasis tubes stood in each corner of the room, for unknown purposes.

And there sat Commander Yamasaki, in front of one of the smaller computer's desks. "Why hello, you two! I barely expected you to come…"

"Well, we're… here…" Jen was still admiring the lab.

"That was fun!" Veemon exclaimed. "Can we do it again, Mr. Yamasaki?"

He laughed, "Did you not notice the red button on the wall? You could have pressed that and the wall at the very end of the hall would have opened up and tra-la-la: an elevator!"

"Why in God's name is there a chute then?!" Jen asked rudely.

"Well, the elevator doesn't always work."

"You're a strange one, you know that?" Commander Yamasaki ignored this comment. Nevertheless, Jen continued, "Why didn't you call Max and the others?"

"They're at school right now, correct? I have patience."

"School will be out soon."

"What time?"

"Fourteen thirty, usually."

"Well… I'll wait till then, sure. Go ahead and look around the lab, if you please."

Jen nodded. She began wandering around the lab with Veemon, observing some of the technological advancements of Commander Yamasaki's. A question arose about the stasis chambers, "What're these tube thingies for, Commander?"

Yamasaki walked over to the pair to resist yelling across the room. "Those are my digital transportation tubes. They're what I'll be using to teleport your friends to the Digital World. Or, in a more literal sense, the Digital World will be coming to _you_. It's the only safe way of traveling between the worlds without diminishing the dimensional barriers."

"My friends… wait, what about me?"

"I wanna go back to my home too!" Veemon whined.

"Not to worry," Commander Yamasaki insisted, "you'll be back there in due time. I need Jen to assist me with some… things while they're there."

"Alright," said Jen. She and Veemon took a few more trips around the lab before Max and the others arrived with their Digimon.

"What'cha need?" Max wondered, stepping out of the elevator with his friends.

"You told THEM about the elevator and not **me**?" Jen placed her hands on her hips and looked at the Commander.

"He never told us about the elevator," Jared said, "there just wasn't another way down. Was there?"

"No, no, everything's fine!" Commander Yamasaki looked at the aggravated Jen, who sat in a computer chair with her arms crossed. "I have a very important task for you three."

"Us _three_?" Alexis asked confusedly. "Aren't there four of us?"

"Jen will be staying here with me to assist me with any problems we may have in sending you to the Digital World."

"Whoa," Jared smiled, "we're actually going there?"

"Of course," Max groaned. "He even told us we would be."

"Do we have to tell our parents?" Alexis asked.

"Don't worry about warning your family," the Commander said, "time in the Digital World moves at a much, much faster rate than in the Real World."

"That's freaky," Candlemon said.

"So, you're sure we won't interfere with our own time?" Max asked. "'Cause I've got homework to do."

"Yes, I'm positive," Commander Yamasaki reassured. "I've been there before. Now, if you will each step into a separate transportation tube with your Digimon partner…"

Max and Candlemon took the northern right corner. Jared and KoKabuterimon stepped into the southern right chamber, while Alexis and Penguinmon found there way to the one to the left of Jared's.

Commander Yamasaki located four small, red buttons on his computer keyboard. By pressing three of them, the kids and their Digimon slowly dematerialized into data pixels and disappeared out of sight in their respective chambers. Jen watched Max wave goodbye to her ask he transported.

"So," Jen paused, "what do I do now?"

"First of all, I'll need your Digivice," Commander Yamasaki said.

"Digivice?" Jen questioned. "Oh. My D-Cell. Right." Jen pulled the device from her pocket and handed it to her superior. "Just don't break it."

Commander Yamasaki accepted the item and pulled out a USB cord from a desk drawer. He hooked the wire into Jen's D-Cell and placed the other end into a socket on his computer. The large screen brightened and then flashed on. The monitor had two grid-like maps on it: one was the "Real World" as labeled above it, and the other was the "Digital World" in the same manner.

The Commander sighed and clicked around a few times, swiftly moving through screens. He came to one browser, which he stayed on. The screen now exposed a large green loading bar and nothing else. The meter quickly filled with green pixels, and as it did so, the blue cell phone began to glow. It ceased the illumination shortly after. Commander Yamasaki typed a few things into his keyboard and slowly, near Jen's D-Cell, another device almost exactly the same, except darker blue, materialized.

A smile widened across the Commander's face. He got up and picked up the device, after which he snapped his fingers. From a door to his left came a single lizard Digimon, like the ones that had saved Jen and Veemon from the Ogremon.

"Jen, I would like you to meet Commandramon," Commander Yamasaki finally introduced the well-armed monster.

"Hey, he looks like the guys that saved us yesterday," Jen acknowledged, "except there were three of him."

"I ordered him to come and help you. Now, let me show you his capabilities." Commander Yamasaki gripped his D-Cell tightly and it quickly began to brightly flash. Commandramon started glowing at the same time, and his body morphed dramatically into a human physique.

"_Commandramon digivolve to… __**Sealsdramon!**_"

Sealsdramon had a teal armor plated body and wielded a battle knife in his right hand. He was heavily equipped with weaponry all over his suit and had two blades jutting from his back.

"Wow… he digivolved?!" Jen was rather surprised. "How did you get a Digivice?"

The Commander ignored her question, "They said I was taking the project out of proportion…" His voice became more maniacal the more he spoke. "…They said I was _stealing _their plans… they were my plans… **mine**… I created them! I created a _better_ world!"

"You wha?" Veemon said stupidly as Sealsdramon lunged at him with his knife in hand. Veemon moved out of the way in panic, clumsily avoiding the attack.

"What's your problem, Commander?!" Jen wondered in frustration. She noticed her D-Cell was still over on the computer desk, and Commander Yamasaki was in the way.

"JEEEEEN!" Veemon was running across the lab, narrowly avoiding Sealsdramon's rather accurate attacks.

"Veemon!" Jen gasped while the Commander laughed. "You bastard, what are you up to?"

"Your Veemon is special, Jen," the Commander told her, "and I want him."

"Special?"

"Normal Veemon have yellow markings. Your Veemon, however, has red ones."

Veemon watched her Digimon dash around in circles in the room and noticed his head's "V" mark. "So why does that make him special?"

"Well, he-" The Commander was interrupted by Jen tackling him to the ground. Getting up and grabbing her Digivice, she reluctantly held it to her chest.

_I'm almost afraid to do this again…_

"Veemon, **digivolve!**" The D-Cell glowed in her hands and Veemon felt her power.

"**Initiate Digivolution Matrix.**"

"_Veemon digivolve to… __**Veedramon!**_" Veemon resumed his large dragon form once again. He stopped running in time to turn around and give Sealsdramon a good punch in the face that sent him backwards into a computer desk, smashing it.

Sealsdramon responded by tossing the CPU in Veedramon's direction. Veedramon caught it and tossed it aside while pulling his head back. "V-NOVA BLAST!" He spewed a blue fire blast in the shape of a "V" at Sealsdramon, who was knocked back once again.

Sealsdramon wasn't ready to give up. He got up from his fall and ran swiftly all around the room, confusing Veedramon. Veedramon responded by firing V-Nova Blasts in every direction in an attempt to hit him, but he ended up missing most of the time and causing some lab components to explode.

"Veedramon, careful!" Jen exclaimed. She looked over at one of the computers, the one that the Commander used to teleport Max and the others. Commander Yamasaki recovered from Jen's tackle in time to watch her punch down on one of the buttons, which initiated a countdown.

"You stupid girl…" Commander Yamasaki groaned in pain. He was obviously too old to handle Jen's attack.

Veedramon was sent into a wall by Sealsdramon kicking him in the back, degenerating back to Veemon.

_"Emergency Transportation Countdown activated. 10..."_

Jen made a mad dash for one of the teleportation chambers.

_"9..."_

The door was already open for her, so she ran right in.

_"8... 7..._"

Jen watched Veemon struggle to make it to the chamber on his own.

_"6... 5..."_

In a rush, Jen dashed over to grab Veemon and run back to the chamber. Scorched metal and delayed explosion reactions erupted all around the lab.

_"4... 3... 2..."_

Jen felt impatient. "GO ALREADY, DAMMIT!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Boy at the Inn

"_1._"

Explosions of light and sound emitted from the tube as Jen and Veemon experienced the feeling of being digitized.

- - -

"Should we wake her yet?"

"Well, are we gonna just leave her there? I don't quite think so!"

"Hey, don't point that paw at me!"

Jen's eyes slowly opened to the sight of her Digimon, Veemon, conversing with a rather stout old man with a gray, bushy beard and wielding a cane with a bestial paw at the tip. He was dressed in tattered beige cloth and his face was almost indistinguishable under all his hair.

"Look what you've gone and done, laddie!" the short man sighed in aggravation. "You woke her up!"

Jen rubbed her eyes as she got up. She looked around and noticed she was in a room dangerously similar to the entrance of the office building that the lab was in, bare white walls and everything.

"Commander, did you shrink?" Jen asked wearily.

"No, no, dear," the man spoke with a minor hint of Irish accent. "My name is Jijimon, one of the oldest living Digimon in the Digital World. I stand as one of the few monsters to make it to Mega level naturally."

"Mega level?" curiously asked Jen. "That sounds pretty strong, but you're so… short. Why does the Digital World look so boring?"

Veemon explained, "This is the Commander's base in the Digital World. That's probably why the building in the Real World looked so familiar. They're exactly the same, except in different dimensions."

"Does that mean Yamasaki's here?!"

"Oh, don't worry about him, lassie," Jijimon chuckled, with disregard toward Jen's previous height comment, "Veemon's informed me of him and if he were here, we'd know."

"Good. Where he belongs." Jen looked over at the door. "So, if I open that, I'll-"

"Be in the Digital World?" Jijimon interrupted. "Of course! You're already there to begin with!"

Jen slowly got up and walked over to the door. Gripping the knob tightly for a few moments, she managed to turn it and push the door open.

In her mind, though, it was all worth it. "_Wow._"

"Aye. That's File City, lassie."

- - -

The sirens of fire trucks and the crackling of burning wood, bricks and mortar were all that was left.

Commander Yamasaki stood rather calmly observing the firemen washed down the flames of defeat. Despite his harmonious stature, his mind was not left without riddle.

_That Veemon was my only chance at gaining what I truly needed. Kimeramon fails me constantly with his useless army of monsters… they're unworthy. A Royal Knight, though… the perfect soldier. With one of Yggdrasil's Order under my belt, I could successfully dominate the Digital World, and merging the two dimensions would be all the easier…_

"Mr. Yamasaki," a young policeman approached the distant minded man, "we would appreciate you telling us what sparked this flame?"

Yamasaki brought his focus back to real life, "Stupidity, my friend. Pure stupidity."

- - -

Jen stared in awe at the brilliant design of the city of File. Its structure seemed to parallel that of her home dimension; buildings stood among busy streets of colorful monsters going about their daily commute.

Except she remembered in her world, there weren't any monsters. At least naturally.

"This is… the Digital World?" Jen said, mouth agape. "This is _cool_." She turned to Jijimon and asked, "Would you happen to have seen my friends around here?"

"Ah, were they also humans?" Jijimon responded with a question, in which Jen nodded positively to. "They popped up here yesterday in this very spot. Last I heard of them, they were going down to McBurgermon's."

"But that was yesterday!" Jen exclaimed, thinking to herself, _Wow, time really _is _faster here._ "I suppose that means we're on our own?"

"I'm afraid so."

Veemon tried to cheer her up, "Don't worry, Jen! Keep a smile on, and we'll find them!"

Jen scoffed, "Right, that's worked for us _so_ well the past couple of days…"

"You know," Jijimon added, "there's a hotel down the road that usually caters to homeless Digimon. I wouldn't toss the idea of them staying there for the night."

Jen nodded, "Thanks, old dude! Seeya later." She waved goodbye to him, as did Veemon, as the pair walked down the sidewalk aimlessly.

The two got around a good few blocks before Veemon noted, "You know, Jen, you could have asked him for directions to the hotel."

Jen stopped in her tracks and looked down at her Digimon. "Why didn't **you** ask him?!"

"I figured you knew where you were going!"

"But-" Jen sighed. "You know… you LIVED in this world, how come you don't know?"

"I didn't live here."

Jen was awkwardly silent for a moment as they continued walking. "I'm gonna ask the locals." The two peas in a pod walked for another block or two until Jen decided they would approach a Digimon where to go. Upon questioning a ball shaped ninja clad monster, his answer came out negative. They randomly asked several more citizens until they finally gave up.

"_Nobody_ knows where the damn hotel is?" Jen groaned.

A voice called from nearby, "Hotel, you say?"

Jen and Veemon turned around and laid their eyes upon a creature with a star for a body. Other than the star torso, which was also apparently a head since it had eyes, he had two arms and legs. His arms wore blue gloves and his feet had blue boots, each having a pentagram emblem on them. He was leaning against a wall at the corner of the street.

"Yeah, we're looking for a hotel in this area…" Jen said. She felt like she'd been put in a strange social position. "Know where there might be one?"

"You might be talking about Wizardmon's Inn. That fruitcake opened that place up for everybody ever since they moved in here from Witchelny… they say some weird crap goes on in there. They took in a human kid a long time ago, and he hasn't left yet, but they say the place has been cursed ever since. Digimon keep disappearing…"

"Wait, humans?" Jen asked, since the Digimon had paused. "Could that be Max and the others?"

"Didn't ya hear me? I said only _one_ human."

"So maybe it was just Max!" Veemon speculated.

The star Digimon sighed, pestered. "You know what? You go on down there and see it for yourself. It's about 5 blocks away. Tell him Starmon sent ya."

"Starmon," Jen smiled and nodded. "Gotcha. Thanks!"

Starmon was silent after that and managed to only wave before Jen and Veemon took a five block walk around town. Coming to the fifth street, they took notice of a rackety old building amidst the steel canyon that was File City. It seemed to be the only structure of wood in the whole town so far, and a sign hung loosely bolted from above the door that read, "Wizardmon's Inn." It looked no larger than three stories high.

"Not quite what I had in mind…" Jen stated slowly, "but then again, what in this world _is_?"

The two went into the inn with mixed expectations. The inside wasn't all that glamorous either; seeing how murky and shoddy it was made your face contort and gave you uncomfortable feelings of all sorts.

One figure caught their eye, though. Standing behind the counter was somebody you'd expect to be in a fantasy novel. He wore a blue witch's hat upon his head with a small skull stitched upon it. His cloak of the same color was torn and battered, as was his yellow jumpsuit. Over the suit was a makeshift red vest held together by small ropes. His face wasn't visible in its entirety, and his skin was a smoky blue-gray. He held a staff made of wood with a sun-shaped piece of work at the top end.

"Hello there, young ones!" the man greeted them. "Welcome to my inn! I'm quite obviously Wizardmon…"

"We kinda figured…" Jen said. "and don't think that we're here for a room. We were wondering if you've served a human boy named Max here before?"

"Max? No, I don't recall that name. We have another boy, though, would you like to meet him?"

"No, thank you…"

Veemon's face took a surprised look at Jen, "Oh, come on, we could use another friend!"

"Do you NOT remember what Starmon told us about?" Jen whispered. "This place is cursed!"

Wizardmon laughed. "Starmon? Oh, that rascal…"

Jen turned back to Wizardmon, "You know him?"

"That son of a gun is always trying to run me out of business. There's plenty of Digimon staying here right now if you'd like to stay yourself."

"We could use a room," Veemon said, winking an nudging Jen in the side.

Jen sighed. "Okay, how much will it cost me?"

"Oh, nothing at all," Wizardmon chuckled. "This is a free service!"

Jen's eyes widened. "Well, that's convenient. Thank you!" Jen said happily. Wizardmon handed them the card key to room 27 and the two made their way down the creaky hallway and up a circular set of stairs. Stepping onto broken floor boards wasn't giving off signals of luxury.

"You really think Starmon lied about the curse?" Veemon asked. He and Jen had come to the room and Jen swiped the card through the door's knob, which allowed her to step right in.

"You really think I'm as familiar with this world as you are, buddy?" Jen scoffed, closing the door. The room was no better looking than the rest of the building. The sheets on the two single beds looked like they hadn't been washed in months. Cobwebs were building up in the corners of the room like bees around honey. Broken floorboards that obviously hadn't been catered to in years remain as the only thing holding the room up.

Jen flopped down on her back onto one of the beds. The mattress was as stiff as wood. "Dude, how do people stay in places like this?"

Veemon sighed, "That's all that we get. It's all data… it's not our choice what is created from it."

"That's probably the smartest thing I've ever heard you say," Jen giggled and set her D-Cell on a wooden corner table next to the bed. Though, her head then jerked up in thought and she snatched the phone back. "I should just _call_ the others!"

Veemon mocked, "That's probably the smartest thing I've ever heard _you_ say!"

Jen dialed a number into the phone and held it to her ear, but then pulled it away with a look of discouragement. "It's all fuzzy."

"Must be bad reception," Veemon joked.

Jen sighed and put the D-Cell back on the table. She rested her head on her pillow and said, "I still can't believe the Commander did what he did. Do you think he's evil, Veemon?"

Veemon jumped onto the bed next to Jen's. "Nah, I think he's just crazy."

"He copied my D-Cell's data just so he could materialize his own and digivolve a Commandramon. He obviously didn't do it naturally, either… the Digivice didn't say anything in that robotic voice that it talks in when I use mine."

"You think a lot, don't you, Jen?" Veemon wondered.

"I've got plenty of free time," she smiled. She pulled a small, red orb out of her pocket; it was the one created after destroying Ogremon, and it was still about the size of a marble. "What do you think this is?"

"You're asking the wrong Digimon, Jen."

"Think we could use it for money?"

A knock sounded from the door and Jen reluctantly got off the bed and walked herself over to it to open it. In front of her stood a pre-teenage child with spiked blonde hair and a red jacket over a goldenrod colored shirt. He was staring down at the ground innocently, obviously shy. She slipped the orb back into her pants pocket.

"Um… high there," a soft, young voice said. "I'm Akira… I heard footsteps and there hasn't been anyone else other than me staying here for a while so-"

"Wait… uh," Jen stopped him, "Wizardmon said a lot of Digimon were booked here."

"This inn's been pretty empty for a while now…" Akira said. "Everyone says because I'm here that this place is cursed. The last few Digimon who stayed here disappeared without a trace. I wanted to make sure you were okay…"

"We're holding up pretty well, don't worry about us."

Akira looked behind Jen at Veemon's bed and noticed the blue Digimon laying on it. "I like your Veemon, his marking colors are different, though… that's weird."

"Wait, how do you know Veemon?"

"I know about a lot of Digimon. I've been in this world for at least twenty years now…"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Shoo, Flymon

Jen stared down at Akira in disbelief. "Twenty years? Not to sound like I'm flirting with you or something, kid… but you don't look a day over ten."

Akira was looking up by now. "Thanks, but I know that. That's what staying in the Digital World for so long can do to you."

"Well, are we gonna stand in the doorway or are you gonna come in?" Veemon snuck up behind and said.

Akira smiled, "Sure." He stepped into the old room and sat himself down on Jen's bed. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"It's no problem," Jen said, "my D-Cell doesn't work here so I can't call my friends."

"Did you say… D-Cell?"

"Yup, what of it?"

Akira explained, "Would this be one?" and pulled out a device from his beige pants pocket. It closely resembled Jen's Digivice, but it had a golden trim. "Back in the day… I had a Digimon partner."

"Yeah, that's a D-Cell… well, what was your partner's name?"

"That's the thing. I don't even remember. Before Kimeramon came to be, there was a Digimon named Millenniummon. On several occasions he threatened to warp the dimensions of the Digital World so that it would collide with the Real World… and he almost did.

"It was a failed attempt, though, like trying to cook a _stove _over _noodles_. Instead of taking the Digital World to the Real World's borders, he tried it the other way around. That led to the Digital World being reformatted. I was here at the time, which was a good fifteen years ago in Earth years. We call that period the Digital Crisis, and as a human I wasn't reformatted into a Digitama."

"Digitama?" Jen asked.

"Digimon egg. When a Digimon dies, it becomes a Digitama and is reborn soon after. Human can't be reformatted that way. Instead, for a moment my body shifted in and out of this reality and a bunch of my memory left with it. I guess you could say that's when I turned into data."

"Weird. One man back on Earth told us much different." Jen looked down at her D-Cell and thought for a moment. She remembered Commander Yamasaki's words.

_Your Veemon is special, Jen, and I want him_.

"So normal Veemon don't have red markings?" she asked curiously. "What color are they usually?"

"Hey, what do you mean by 'normal Veemon'?" Veemon asked, annoyed, but nobody really listened to him.

"Yellow," Akira said. "I have no idea why this one's are red."

Veemon looked up at his forehead curiously. "Jen, do you think it's just because I'm cooler than other Veemon?"

She chuckled, "I'm not sure. Hey Akira, how much faster is Earth time compared to here?"

Akira paused. "A bit of calculating leads me to believe one hour on Earth is equivalent to about twenty-three hours here. Sixty minutes is a day, basically." Veemon and Jen stared at him for a moment and Akira laughed. "When you've been here as long as I have with an old wristwatch you kind of get bored."

The boy dug into a small pocket on his jacket and presented a golden watch to Jen. The hands were moving at a very slow pace.

- - -

"Hey guys," Jared acknowledged his friends as he looked down at his digital clock adorned just below his left hand, "I think my watch is busted."

Jared, KoKabuterimon, Max, Candlemon, Alexis, and Penguinmon wandered south from File City into a steamy jungle. Young insect Digimon wandered all over but seemed quite harmless.

"Remember what the Commander told us," Max remembered, "time is a lot different here than at home."

Jared sighed. "That's true, but did my watch have to get involved?"

- - -

"You have friends who are here?" Akira asked, in response to Jen telling him so. "Why aren't you with them?"

"I wasn't exactly expected to come here… do you have anyone else here?"

"Nah… I'm pretty much alone. Before the crash, though, I had a friend. But he's back in the Real World by now."

"Do you remember his name?"

"Yeah," Akira nodded. "One of the few things I remember. His name was Uyeda."

- - -

"I know I'm going to end up stepping on one of these stupid worms," Jared said, maneuvering his way through the sticky mud.

"Makes you wish you had the ability to propel yourself in midair, does it not, sir?" KoKabuterimon joked.

"Funny how I don't even have wings," Candlemon said, "and I'm still hovering around."

Penguinmon took this with an ounce of jealousy and flapped her wings, which were void of usefulness.

"I just wish there was a trail through here," Alexis said. "It'd make this _so_ much less gross."

"I wonder how Jen's doing back at the lab," Max thought out loud in sheer ignorance. "I hope the Commander doesn't mess with her too much."

Jared stopped when the blue mouth of an oversized yellow worm grabbed onto his pant leg. "Hey… get offa me!" Jared exclaimed, wiggling his right leg around in an attempt to cut the larva loose, but to no avail.

"I'll help, sir!" KoKabuterimon said as he grabbed the creature with his claw and ripped him off of Jared's pant leg, tossing him across the marsh. "All taken care of."

Jared noticed the tear at the bottom of his pants and sighed. "These things cost a lot… mom's gonna kill me."

"Uh, Jared…" Max stuttered, pointing over at where they'd thrown the monster. A much larger one stood - or rather, flew - where it had landed, and it looked much meaner. It was more of a bee and had large fangs on its face that looked like they could suck the life right out of you. His body was covered with black lightning shaped patterns. "I think he digivolved."

Jared swallowed a lump at his throat as he laid his eyes upon the fly monster. He pulled out his beeping D-Cell to scan its information. "He's Flymon, a Champion Insectoid Digimon. His special attack is Brown Stinger!"

Flymon neared the group at top speed with his stinger pointed forward. Max looked down at Candlemon and he prepared his Digivice. "Time to digivolve, Can--" Holding the device in the air was not a good idea, because when Flymon flew by the wind knocked the device from his hand and into the mud below!

Candlemon looked angrily at the Flymon, who was now behind the group. "Melted Wax!" Candlemon spewed several splotches of candle wax at his opponent. The wax burned into Flymon's skin and caused him to flinch, but he wasn't done yet.

"Brown Stinger!" the monster called out. From his abdomen he fired three sharp thorns at each of the three Digimon. Each of the thorns missed, and KoKabuterimon even caught one in his claw. He proceeded to toss it back at Flymon, who deflected it with his own stinger.

Max regrettably stuck his hand in the mud to grab his Digivice, but he couldn't seem to find it. When he pulled his hand out, it was covered in goop. _Why don't I wear gloves…?_

KoKabuterimon and Flymon were now flying around in circles around the group, the Rookie chasing down the yellow coated Champion. Flymon's eyes glowed red with a dark intensity.

Jared's partner managed to catch up with Flymon and swiftly, he swiped him out of the air with his claw. He fell to the ground as KoKabuterimon landed, albeit it was muddy ground.

Flymon recovered from the aerial attack and rose up into the air. His eyes grew brighter than before. "Destroy… for the Master…"

"Ahh, great, more 'Master' crap," Max sighed. "And I still can't find my damn D-Cell."

Candlemon stood by Max as Penguinmon came to KoKabuterimon's side to assist him. "Me help you!"

KoKabuterimon looked at the slightly shorter Penguinmon and smiled. "Correct! With my friend Penguinmon by my side, Flymon, you stand no chance!"

Flymon ignored this completely. He did nothing but open his mouth as a purple powdery substance flowed from it. The powder headed in KoKabuterimon and Penguinmon's direction, and in seconds Penguinmon fell to the ground and dozed off. KoKabuterimon remained upright, however.

"Insect poison doesn't work on other insect Digimon," KoKabuterimon laughed. "If you're looking to stop me, it won't be quite as easy."

Flymon growled and flew, stinger first, at KoKabuterimon, who defended himself by turning around and using his back as a shield. "I'm growing quite bored of you, Flymon. You'll pay for hurting Penguinmon!"

Ignoring KoKabuterimon's pestering words, Flymon continually rammed his stinger into KoKabuterimon's back in an attempt to harm him. The plan succeeded, and the hero cried out in pain.

"KoKabuterimon!" Jared rushed to his side. He'd fallen to the ground by now. "Are you okay?"

"I'm quite fine… Jared," KoKabuterimon groaned, picking himself up and holding onto his back. He once again hovered into the air. "I'll be okay!"

"I thought he said he wasn't a good fighter?" Max whispered to Candlemon.

KoKabuterimon clenched his claw as his body began to illuminate. "I'm tired of Kimeramon's little sheep thinking they can control the Digital World! It's time for me to fight back!"

Jared pulled out a glowing device from his pocket. His D-Cell.

"**Initiate Digivolution Matrix.**"

"_KoKabuterimon digivolve to… __**BladeKuwagamon!**_"

Floating in front of the group now was a Digimon that much resembled a blade, no larger than a kitchen knife. He had an insect theme, but he now had anatomy comparable to a sword or a dagger. A sparkling blade protruded from a shining silver hilt, whose guard resembled the horns of a stag beetle. A red jewel on the hilt served the purpose of the monster's singular eye.

"That's BladeKuwagamon," Max read off his D-Cell. "He's a Champion level Machine Digimon. His special attack is Spark Blade, where he moves at high speeds to slash at his opponents!"

"He's so…" Alexis paused, "…_cute!_ I just want to cuddle him!"

Jared smiled. "From the looks of it all you could want to do with him is slice bread… let's see what he can do!"

"I can do plenty more than that, sir!" BladeKuwagamon buzzed, a light bit of humor in his voice. "Spark Blade!" BladeKuwagamon quickly began to electrify, soaring at high speeds straight ahead in Flymon's direction. His blade stabbed right into Flymon's abdomen. "No more poison coming from you!"

The only thing flowing from Flymon now was pixels of data. His body soon decomposed into a small, red sphere and fell to the muddy ground. In this instant, Penguinmon slowly recovered and stood back up, and BladeKuwagamon degenerated to KoKabuterimon. "My Lord, his skin is tough as nails!"

"That was quick," Jared approached the small crimson orb, picking it up and wiping off the mud. "You should give yourself more credit as a fighter."

"I'm quite surprised none of you have commented on my higher form being much smaller than this form!" KoKabuterimon laughed not only at himself, but at Max as he pulled a muddy cell phone out of the goopy surface.

"Found it!"

- - -

"Is there a problem?" Akira asked the dumbfounded Jen. The news that Akira's friend had the same name as her boyfriend left her stupefied.

"It's nothing," Jen turned away just to pull the crimson marble out of her pocket. "Do you know what this might be?"

Akira scooted his body over a bit. "Jen… where did you get that?"

"Oh, just from a Digimon my friends and I destroyed in the Real World."

"There's plenty more where that came from!" Veemon bragged, latching his arms around Jen's shoulders playfully. "Of course, I absorbed a Deltamon so we have one less than we could."

"Jen…" Akira trembled, "I want you to put that down, and we need to get out of this city… now."

"Who are you bossing around, buddy?" Jen asked, folding her arms. "I'll go where I please, thank you very much."

"You don't understand. That's the DigiCore of a destroyed minion of Kimeramon!"

"What's so bad about that?"

"Kimeramon likes to recollect those and reuse them… which means he's probably coming-"

The room's door slammed down to the floor in a split second. An angry Wizardmon stood at the door, his eyes flame red. "Give me the Master's DigiCores."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Rain of Ruin

"DigiCores?" Jen asked hesitantly, fiddling with the orb behind her back. "I-I have no idea what you mean…"

Wizardmon slowly walked into the room. He held his staff in front of him as to intimidate Jen, Veemon and Akira. "_Give me the DigiCores._" They each noticed Wizardmon's blood red glow in his eyes greaten with every passing moment. Jen obviously wasn't thinking clearly when she threw the sphere behind her. She heard the sound of glass breaking as Wizardmon became frantic, running to the shattered window near the beds.

"Oops."

"You FOOLS!" Wizardmon exclaimed in anguish. He fixed himself near the window, looking down three stories and locking his eyes on the DigiCore. It was amongst a gaggle of bushes and shrubs that hadn't been tended to in some time. Wizardmon turned himself around and stared menacingly at the trio. Jen and Akira exchanged glances before taking off out the door, Veemon joining from behind and Wizardmon chasing after.

Veemon stopped and turned around in the middle of the hallway. He stood defiantly and held his hand out in front of him, signaling for the wizard monster to stop. "Look, dude, I don't want to fight you, but I don't want you hurting my friends. So it looks like I'm gonna have to do something I might regret!"

"Regretful feelings are for insects," Wizardmon murmured. "Allow me to add you to the collection of those who have 'disappeared.'" He held his staff to Veemon's face and called out indistinguishable words as he sent a yellow lightning blast from the sun on the end, forcing Veemon backwards. Veemon's response was a forward thrust of his own body to return to his feet, and on the way up he held his fist out and punched Wizardmon right in the face before turning around and speeding to catch up with the others.

The three scampered down the stairs and burst out the wooden door. Jen bent down, panting in exhaustion, and Akira and Veemon plopped themselves down on the door steps. Moments passed and Wizardmon didn't come out behind them.

Akira got to his feet and loomed over to the DigiCore that rested between a couple of dead bushes by the inn. He picked it up and examined it prior to making his way back over to the other two. "How many others do you have?" he asked, handing the marble back to Jen.

Confused, Jen replied, "Others of what? Those Core things?"

"Yes! We need to get rid of them."

"Well, let me see…" Jen began counting on her hand, "I have Ogremon's, I gave Monochromon's to Max, Veemon absorbed Deltamon… we should only have two in all."

"So your friends have one too?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I told you! These things are to Kimeramon as fish food is to a malnourished salmon! He'll be after us AND your friends any second now."

Jen had a few questions in mind about varying things, but there was obviously little time. "Okay, fine. What do you propose we do?"

Akira's eyes were fixated on a shadow that was enveloping the whole city. "I think it's too late." A dark feeling dawned upon the entire area as they, as well as the Digimon around the town, ceased to budge. Wizardmon was heard slamming the inn's door open, and Jen turned to look at him. His eyes were no longer crimson and he seemed very weak.

"Kids, are you okay?" Wizardmon inquired. "I apologize for my actions, Kimeramon got the best of me..."

"It's fine, but what is that shadow?" Jen asked.

"It's Kimeramon," Akira confirmed. "He knows you're here. You need to hide."

"You might wanna listen to the boy," Starmon's voice crossed their ears. He came up behind the group and spoke, "That guy likes to gather up his used corrupted DigiCores."

"We noticed," Jen and Veemon said in unison.

A rain of red liquid shot at a high speed from an unknown spot in the air, presumably Kimeramon. The monster was exactly as his name implied: chimeric, composed of several different Digimon that even Akira had trouble processing through his head. The shot of scarlet acid busted through the roof of another building nearby, causing an eruption of molten steel and an uprising packet of data.

"Never mind _you_ guys hiding," Starmon said, taking a few steps back, "we _all_ need to get the hell outta here!"

Jen, Veemon, Akira, Starmon, and Wizardmon all took off down the road. Kimeramon spewed a few more shots of the lava in several directions, calling out "HEAT VIPER!" with each one. One of the buildings in his way was Wizardmon's Inn.

Crowds of Digimon screamed and stupidly proceeded into nearby structures, only to have those annihilated by the tyrannical monster. His four arms detrimentally smashed anything that got in his way, almost as if they had minds of their own. "WHERE ARE THE CORES?" his booming voice bellowed.

"JEN, GET RID OF IT!" Akira shouted in between his huffing and puffing. "Just throw it down!"

"These things empower him!" Jen replied back forcibly. "I'm not surrendering!"

"I'll protect us!" Veemon said and he began to radiate. "You guys keep going!"

"Veemon, no!" Jen's voice called out, but it was too late. Her Digivice glowed as well.

"**Initiate Digivolution Matrix.**"

"_Veemon digivolve to… __**Veedramon**_"

"VEEMON!" Jen screamed, "you're crazy! Don't fight him!"

Starmon heaved a moan and turned to look at Wizardmon. They nodded their heads at each other before each joined up on the opposite side of Veedramon.

"You guys too?!" Akira gasped.

"Someone's got to stop this guy," Wizardmon preached, "it may as well be us."

"This is crazy! Eight Megas could never destroy him, what makes you think _you _can?"

_Eight Megas?_ Jen's thoughts raced. _Where would you find eight of them?_

"I'm just not letting Veedramon here take all the hurt for it," Starmon spoke. "You can stay back, Akira."

Jen's mind got the best of her again. _How does he know Akira's name?_

"METEOR SHOWER!"

"V-NOVA BLAST!"

"THUNDER BALL!"

All three Champions fired an assault at Kimeramon. Starmon summoned meteors from the sky to fall, and Wizardmon pointed his staff and fired a roaring blast of thunder. Veedramon did his usual thing, which included shooting a blue flame at the enemy. All three attacks hit Kimeramon, but he remained unharmed. He continued to fly over the city in a destructive rage. The trio of Digimon turned around and ran to catch up with the kids; Veedramon, who towered over the other two Champions, caused the most ruckus.

"HEAT VIPER!" Kimeramon shouted once again. A stream of acid shot down and trailed behind the crowds, destroying dozens of Digimon in its path. The murky shadow cast by the monster didn't help at all; it made things much darker feeling than they were. And the situation was already grim enough.

The crowd ran around like army ants. The majority of them stayed in file, not leaving the pack as many other straying to the side joined in when they saw Kimeramon looming above. They passed by the building - now in ruin, of course - where they'd met Jijimon, but refused to stop for him. He could take care of himself, and the feat was too risky.

The entire group was now southbound, heading into the entrance of an area marked "Steamy Jungle" - also lathered with several "Warning!" signs. The transition from city to nature was almost seamless; concrete ground transferred right into muddy grassland and marshes.

Jen stayed behind, directing the remaining residents - which were no more than one hundred in number - into the damp wetlands. Everything that they had left behind might as well have become nothing but data or charred rubble.

_One Core won't make a difference in his power, will it?_ Jen hastily tossed the red DigiCore behind her. Kimeramon finally came to a stop as he reached down with one arm and gripped the orb between two fingers. He absorbed it whole into his body within an instant, groaning in sadistic pleasure. Regardless of the fact that he'd gotten what he came for, he continued on in the same direction, above the tree stalks of the Steamy Jungle.

Veedramon was running out of breath by the time he degenerated back to his Rookie form. Jen peered over at the departing monster and asked Akira, "Where ya think he's going?"

"Your friends have a corrupt DigiCore," Akira recalled, "right? I think we _both _know where he's going." A small batch of younger Digimon still remained at the entrance. Akira explained, "You guys stay in the city and await instruction. Wizardmon, please stay with them and ensure their safety. Jen, Starmon, Veemon and myself will bring _everybody_ in the jungle back to this spot. It's too dangerous to be in there now."

Jen chuckled amidst the chaos, "You're a natural born leader, eh?"

"I've dealt with these kinds of situations before here. Trust me, this isn't the first time the city has been reduced to rubble." Jen had a distressed expression when she, Veemon, Akira, and Starmon started into the jungle, preparing to direct everybody back to the ruined city.

- - -

Alexis' minor glance behind herself turned out to be a bigger deal than she'd imagined. "Hey, guys… there's smoke over there."

"What do you mean?" Jared wondered. He and the others turned around and looked, and took notice of waves of flame and smoke above the trees.

"The city's on fire?!" Max exclaimed. "We should go check it out-"

"NO NEED TO, MY FRIENDS," a sinister voice called. It seemed that night had fallen when a shadow cast overhead so dark it was hard to see your own hand in front of your face.

"Who are you?" KoKabuterimon asked anonymously.

"NO BUSINESS OF YOURS. GIVE ME THE DIGICORE," Kimeramon's voice growled.

_DigiCore? Does he mean that red thing?_ Max pulled a red sphere out of his pocket and taunted Kimeramon like a dog, "Do you want this, boy?" The only sound out of the monster's mouth was a grunt. "Fetch!" Max threw the DigiCore north toward the city, and Kimeramon groaned prior to turning around and chasing after it. Within a moment, he was gone, and the kids knew he'd taken the DigiCore with him.

"He's heading back towards the city," Candlemon noted, "I sure hope he doesn't hurt anyone else." The gang was about to head south some more until they heard a cry.

"_MAX!_"

Max's ears must have been fooling him. _Was that Jen?_ He, Jared, Alexis, Candlemon, KoKabuterimon, and Penguinmon stopped and gazed at Jen and Veemon, as well as the new boy and another Digimon.

"Howdy there, partners!" Jen said, excited, albeit emitting a strange, calm feeling.

"Weren't you back in the Digital World?" Jared wondered, scratching his head.

"Yup. Turns out the guy's wacko and he flipped out on us, so we came here."

"Who're the newbies?" Candlemon asked.

KoKabuterimon's eyes widened, slowly hovering over to the young lad and the star creature, who stood side by side. "Is that… the famous Akira and his partner, Starmon?!"

"Famous?" Starmon exhaled.

"_Partner?_" Akira gasped.

Starmon smiled, "Didn't ya wonder why I followed you guys here? I'm your partner from long ago, Akira!"

Akira froze for a moment in utter shock, but he shook himself off. "Where've you been all this time, then? After I wandered around File Island for nearly ten years and stayed in that rusty old inn, being blamed left and right for the disappearance of Digimon?!"

"I expected a bit warmer of a welcome," Starmon said in disappointed surprise, "maybe even a hug."

"So you decided he was your partner just by looking at him?" Max asked.

"No, there was much more to it than that. A friend is somebody special whom you should _never _forget."

Akira pulled out the cellular device. "I remember now. You were my partner… why is it that I lost all of my best memories in my rebooting? They're more useful than the trivial things I kept."

The rest of the group, beyond Jen and Veemon, remained confused as to what was going on. There was no blaming them, though.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Just Data

"Here we are: File Forest," Akira told his newly found friends. In the fall of night, the group had finally wandered into territory that wasn't completely engulfed in mud. Great news for the barefooted Veemon, who sighed in relief.

File Forest was filled with lush trees that weren't as damp looking as the ones back in the jungle. There was also a dirt forest trail beneath their feet now which made things much easier.

"It's not quite as humid here," Akira noted, "an admirable quality of an area when you're wearing a warm jacket."

"Why don't you just take it off?" Jen asked the boy, but he gave her a silent refusal to answer that. The whole group was still distraught over what had happened back at File City, and Jen knew in the back of her mind that she'd have to explain it to them eventually.

The group came upon a circular camp area. A fire pit lay in the center of the grounds, and several tree stump seats stood in a circle around it. Starmon explained how he and Akira had created that campsite long ago for their own use. They were surprised it had gone relatively unscathed for a long time before they each sat down on one of the ten stumps.

"How old are you, kid?" Max asked Akira abruptly.

"I'm nearing thirty years old by now," Akira laughed, "and I'm sure you don't believe it."

Alexis giggled, "You're silly. You look like you're as old as me!"

"The Digital World hasn't done much to age my body," Akira explained. "I've been here for twenty years in Earth time."

"I thought that was funny too," Jen said, remembering another question. "Hey, the Commander told us he made the D-Cell design… how did you get one so early?"

"Is that was he says? Hmm… I'm stumped, unless he designed it a long time ago." Akira gazed back at Jen, "Anything else you would like to talk about?"

Jen knew he was referring to the DigiCore incident, but she choked up. Akira hesitantly nodded and declared, "Well, it's getting late… we should all head to sleep."

Max looked around and came to a rather obvious conclusion, "There's no sleeping bags or anything, Akira."

He didn't answer, instead Akira walked over to the side of the campsite near a few trees and fished out a large bunch of furs. They came in a variety of colors; a pair were snow blue and teal, another three or so were purple, and there were even a few red ones.

"Skinned a bunch of these myself during the Crisis," Akira informed. "Corrupted data from Millenniummon's exploits made it so that their reformatting was slightly delayed. So I didn't destroy the monster when I skinned it."

Max asked him, "Millenniummon? Crisis?"

Akira chuckled at his own stupidity. "I didn't tell you the story… a long time ago, a Digimon named Millenniummon tried to bring the Real World past the Digital World's dimensional boundaries. Basically, it caused a system crash and the whole world rebooted. While Digimon turn back into Digitama, I, being… well, not a Digimon, simply phased off and on within a second. Like I was a computer on restart. Along with many of my memories, I lost Starmon. In the oodles of Digitama that materialized in Primary Village, there was no telling which one he was."

"Digimon keep their memories upon reformatting," Starmon explained, "so I retained my knowledge of Akira for a long time. When I found out he'd been hiding out at Wizardmon's Inn for a while, I figured the time would come where I'd have to do something. After all, Wizardmon was never on the sane side, being a slave of Kimeramon and all. But when Kimeramon flew over the city to get the DigiCore from Jen, something broke his hold over Wizardmon."

Akira butted it, "Speaking of the corrupted DigiCore… Jen, is there something you wanted to tell us?"

Jen fiddled with her thumbs for a moment, but then confessed, "I'm… sort of the one who caused Kimeramon to destroy File City. I knew that by giving him the marble thing that he'd leave us alone… but I didn't because I knew it would make him more powerful." The group stayed silent until she added, "What? It's not like it's a big deal or anything. You said it yourself, Akira, this isn't the first time Kimeramon tore away at the city."

Akira shook his head, disgusted by Jen's words. "You had the chance to help those poor Digimon and you failed."

"It's not like they're real, though!" Jen shouted rashly. "They're just data! They can be reborn!"

The entire group, even the Digimon, was not fixing their gaze on Jen in disbelief. Shaken, each of the kids and the monsters picked up a fur skin to wrap themselves in for the night. Beforehand, Candlemon lit a nice fire in the pit to keep them warm.

_I didn't mean to…_

- - -

The night sky loomed over the forest while the majority of the group slept. Jen was the exception, wide awake while staring into the distance at the many trees. She wasn't alone. Alexis could be seen sitting by the campfire and poking it with a twig about two feet from Jen.

"Can't sleep?" Jen whispered from her sleeping area.

Alexis turned around surprised, "Oh… hi, Jen."

"Listen… what I did in File City isn't exactly how I described it… I was afraid. I knew Digimon were being killed, but I didn't want to help make Kimeramon any stronger. Pressure got to me head and I reacted at the worst second."

"It's okay, Jen…" Alexis forgave. "I know you meant the best. I know if my brother, or even Jared or I were in the same position, we'd be no different."

Jen smiled. "With the word skills you have I wouldn't doubt you being a genius."

"Thanks," Alexis giggled to herself, and there was a long silence. "Want to go for a walk?"

Jen responded with a bob of her head. "That sounds cool." She peered at the waking Penguinmon, who looked over at Jen as she got up from her bed. "Although… I think Penguinmon would like to come too!"

Penguinmon waddled over to Alexis and spread her wings for a hug. "Me want love!"

"Aww," Alexis smiled and lifted the Penguinmon, giving her an Eskimo kiss between her nose and the Digimon's beak. "Jen and I are gonna take a hike. Wanna come?"

Penguinmon nodded with an assuring hum. Alexis put her down and the three made their way to the trail that moved east.

- - -

Alexis and Jen stayed pretty silent for much of the walk. Penguinmon, however, made a squawking noise every so often.

"Did you really mean what you said?" Alexis finally asked. "That Digimon are just data?"

Jen looked up at Alexis and cringed. "I… I'm not interested in talking about that right now."

"Why not?" Alexis said, saddened.

Jen looked over at Penguinmon with a sentimental expression and sighed, explaining, "Because… why bring it up? It's not worth debating about. This whole dimension is just a bunch of data, aren't I right? Any geek sitting at a computer right now could be watching us, plotting the perfect moment for him to press 'delete.' And we wouldn't know a thing about it because we don't have a damn clue how to get home."

"That's… a mean thought," Alexis said, bobbing her head down and shifting her eyes to Penguinmon, who had a concerned look. "If we're here, doesn't that mean we're data too?"

Jen disregarded this question and said, "Something else Akira mentioned bothered me."

"What's that?"

"You know that boy Uyeda? The one who's friends with your brother?"

"Yeah, I do. He's pretty cute if you ask me."

Jen smiled. "Well, Akira said he used to have a friend in the Digital World with the same name… but he doesn't remember much else. I don't know if I should ask if he remembers what he looked like."

"It wouldn't hurt, would it?"

"I'd hate to annoy him."

"I'm sure he'd be fine with it. Ask him in the morn-"

As the two passed a small lake to their right, Alexis interrupted herself and turned around in shock. She stayed this way for several seconds until Jen asked, "What's wrong?"

"I heard something…" Both Jen and Alexis had their eyes on the lake now, and Alexis' suspicions may have been right: a large ripple formed in the water for no apparent reason. "Penguinmon, stay away from the lake," Alexis told her partner, who intently listened and backed up to the other side of the trail.

The ripples became much larger and more constant, becoming small waves. Before Jen, Alexis, and Penguinmon could go any further, a creature had already risen from the lake's waters. He looked like a squid with two large, flailing white tentacles. Instead of eyes, he had tubes running from his face to his back. He had a gaping mouth and a large, strange insignia on his forehead.

"Gesomon!" Penguinmon gasped. "Bad Digimon! Hurt us!"

Without notice, the monster threw one of his hands at Penguinmon and grabbed her. He simply held her by the head above the water, probably threatening to harm her.

"Penguinmon…" Jen exasperatedly sighed.

"PENGUINMON!" Alexis cried out. "DON'T LET HIM HURT YOU!" She leaped into the lake thoughtlessly and attempting to swim and save Penguinmon, but her efforts were fruitless. She struggled to keep her head above water.

"Alexis!" Jen called. "He'll kill you! Come back here!" Alexis was unresponsive as she splashed and gargled water.

"NO!" Penguinmon shouted. Her mouth wound up agape when she noted a shining light underwater from Alexis' direction. In response, Penguinmon began to glow as well.

"**Initiate Digivolution Matrix.**"

Penguinmon plunged into the water, still glowing. "_Penguinmon digivolve to…_" She remained underwater for a time, and then appeared underneath Alexis in a new form.

"_**…Dolphmon!**_"

Dolphmon resembled a blue and aquatic mammal, much like a dolphin. She had green eyes and her body seemed ancient at first glance.

"Don't worry, Alexis," Dolphmon assured the girl in a relaxed, feminine voice, "I've got you." With Alexis on her back, the dolphin Digimon swam to shore and allowed her to get off. Afterwards, Dolphmon swam herself over to Gesomon and charged herself up, yelling, "Pulse Blast!" as a shot of sonic waves spewed from her mouth. Gesomon groaned in anguish; the attack had obviously gotten to whatever mind he may have had.

"Is that… Penguinmon…?" Alexis said slowly, gasping for air.

"Either that," Jen replied, "or… no, that's definitely Penguinmon."

Dolphmon hovered in the air a moment, powerfully whipping her tail fin at Gesomon's head. She did the same thing three more times, each subsequent attack causing more damage than the previous. With that, she plopped back down into the water heroically as Gesomon slowly degenerated into pixels and floated away into the air.

The dolphin swam back to shore and reversed back to Penguinmon, shaking the water off her feathers. Jen noticed, "Hey, he didn't leave a DigiCore! What gives?"

"What's to complain about?" Alexis laughed, "At least Kimeramon won't be on our tail now."

"JEN!" Veemon's voice cried as his feet smacked on the paved trail. "I'll save you guys!"

Jen turned to her right and saw her partner panting while he ran to their rescue. His disappointed look on his face upon arrival gave Jen, Alexis and Penguinmon a good laugh.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Dirty Little Secrets

Jen yawned, laying her eyes upon the campsite once again. In her mind, it was good to be back. "No more walks," she turned to Alexis and said, "we don't want to get into danger like that again."

Veemon sighed, but didn't give a verbal response. What Jen had said the night before still lingered in his mind.

"He barely put up a fight," Alexis said. "Seriously, I wish you'd seen it. Dolphmon smacked him a few times and screamed at him, and that did it for him."

The four tucked themselves into their makeshift beds made of furs, exchanged their goodnights, and drifted off to sleep. Except for Jen, of course, whose eyes simply wouldn't shut.

_Uyeda. I still don't know where he is… could Akira be involved? Is our Uyeda the same as the one he talked about?_

Akira's voice came, "Jen. Are you guys okay?"

Jen turned around and saw Akira kneeling at her bedside, and she pretended to wipe her eyes wearily. "Oh, hey Akira… yeah, we were fine. How did you know--"

"I was awake as well," interrupted Akira. "You didn't bring back a DigiCore, did you?"

"No. Gesomon didn't leave one behind."

"He wasn't a servant of Kimeramon then. We're fine."

There was a long silence, and Jen finally mustered the courage to ask. "Akira, do you remember anything about Uyeda?"

Akira paused, then whispered, "Very little. I remember he had black hair… he was also very quiet. You had to really push him to start a conversation. Why do you ask?"

_That sounds just like him. _"I think I know him… he's kinda my boyfriend."

"That's definitely odd to think about. I haven't seen him in years."

"He's been missing for a while now…" Jen whispered. "I haven't seen him in at least a week…"

Another long pause occurred, and Akira spoke. "Digimon aren't just data, you know."

"They're not?" Jen said, interested and sitting up. "Then please, do tell as to what makes them 'alive.'"

"You know," Akira said, "…after years of being in this world I still have yet to understand what gives them hearts. Souls. Life…"

"Exactly. There's no proof that any of these monsters are living beings. If their 'file' or whatever is deleted, the world wouldn't end."

"That's debatable. This world would, of course."

"But that's not _our_ world," Jen sighed. "When you think about it, aren't we the ones who created them? We started the whole V-Pet thing, after all…"

"V-Pet?" Akira seemed confused. "What's that?" Being on his knees discomforted him, so he sat himself down cross-legged.

"You don't know about it? The Digital Monsters V-Pet is how the Digital World was created." She paused and had a shocked look on her face, as if a brick had hit her in the head. "But… if you've been here for so long, and the V-Pet just came out… what the hell's going on?"

"I can't tell you I'm sure myself. Your words are confusing me."

"The Digital Monster virtual pet, it's this stupid toy that Alexis and Jared play with. It's really small and you could put it in your pocket. Like a D-Ce--" Jen's stupefied expression returned, now sitting up in her bed. "Commander Yamasaki made the D-Cells, and you've had that one for as long as you can remember…"

"Which is at least fifteen years."

"That's long before flip phones were invented, so how would Yamasaki have a model for his little invention?"

"You're asking the wrong person."

"This is all seeming so clear now…" Jen whispered. "Well, actually, it's getting even _more_ confusing. Besides the fact that I now know Commander Yamasaki's a scheming bastard. My first clue was when his Commandramon flipped out on me back at his lab."

"This Commander fellow doesn't sound like the nicest of people. He has a Commandramon, you say?"

"I don't even know if it was his. He made a D-Cell by copying the data of mine… it was strange."

"Interesting," he followed up with a yawn. "Well, I'm off to sleep. You should try it yourself."

Jen giggled. "I will." Akira made his way around the ignited fire pit and back to his bed. After pulled her goggles down around her neck, Jen laid herself down and, finally, caught up on her sleep.

- - -

Jen woke up to an argument between two easily recognizable voices. Max and Alexis.

"You were out there without telling me? Mom would kill both of us if you'd done something like this back at home!"

"I went with Jen, we did perfectly fine! Penguinmon even digivolved!"

Jen opened her eyes and took a quick glimpse at the morning sky before gazing at her friends, who were all up and about. Penguinmon and Candlemon watched their partners argue with each other, while Starmon, KoKabuterimon and Akira were busy moving all the furs back into their hiding spot among the trees. Jared and Veemon sat in front of each other on the logs near the fire pit, playing a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. The aggravated look on Veemon's face told her that the game was in Jared's favor.

That face shifted when he noticed Jen on her feet. "Good morning!" Veemon exclaimed.

"Hey," she said tiredly. "What're we packing up for?"

"Akira said we're going back to File City to clean up," Veemon replied.

Jen nodded. She picked up her own bed furs and carried them over to the trees and lazily tossed them over.

"Someone's finally up," Akira joked. He looked up at Jen's messy bed hair.

"Don't remind me," she groaned. She struggled to pull her goggles back to her forehead from her neck. "This place gets on my nerves."

"How are you dealing with being away from your mommy?" Akira joked, but for reasons unknown to him she didn't take it very well, so he avoided the subject. "We're heading back into town."

"I heard."

The campsite was completely cleaned and resembled what it had looked like when they got there. Satisfied, the group of ten started off on the path back to File City.

The trek was a quiet one; Jen had decided to keep her mouth shut whenever she could from now on, and Alexis and Max kept an emotional barrier between each other. Jared cleaned his glasses again and again as if it were a habitual thing, and Akira chatted with Starmon and the other Digimon every now and then.

The group entered the jungle and those who couldn't fly struggled through the mud once again. Akira cursed under his breath and wished someone would pave a trail for them.

Once they'd gotten themselves out of the Steamy Jungle, muddy sneakers and all, they glimpsed at the city once again. It had improved a lot since the day before; buildings were already beginning to be rebuild and scraps of rubble appeared to be used to build small housings in the meantime. The one hundred or so residents remaining seemed to be doing pretty well for themselves in the harsh time.

"As many massacres as there's been on File Island," Akira said, "this is probably the worst one." A feeling of guilt washed over Jen like a tide over a sandy shore under the moonlight.

"We should certainly help them out," KoKabuterimon suggested. "What say you all?"

Jen was the first to smile and nod, and the others copied that action. They each split up, paired with their partner, to fix up parts of the city.

While the others went off in separate directions, Jen and Veemon stayed only to be greeted by Jijimon. "Good to see ya again, you two!" The old man approached them seemingly out of nowhere and bowed, still with his usual accent. "I am glad you were reunited with your friends and you're all safe."

"Same to you, dude," Veemon responded, before Jen could speak. "Need help with anything?"

Jijimon pointed his staff at a small hut to the side of the street built with random scraps of wood, metal, among other things. The iron door was loose on its hinges. "Mind fixin' that for meh?"

- - -

A black car parked on the curb of the destroyed building. Yellow "DO NOT ENTER" tape surrounded it, and walls that were gone were replaced with wooden planks and boards.

Hiroshi stepped out of the driver's side and Yamasaki from the opposite. The two silently entered the building, ripping the yellow tape in their way.

In the entrance lobby, a large hole remained on the floor that lead to the basement. The old man and his friend climbed down slowly, Hiroshi going first and assisting the elder Commander Yamasaki.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Mr. Hiroshi asked the Commander.

"It's the only way I can contact Kimeramon now," Yamasaki responded. He approached one of the broken teleportation pods and kneeled down, fiddling with the wires. "The only way I can show the world that Digimon are superior…"

Apparently finished, Yamasaki got himself back up and stepped into the tube. He nodded to Hiroshi as if he knew what he had to do, and the young man kneeled down and messed with the wiring himself. Within a span of seconds, lights exploded around them, and Commander Yamasaki was gone.

- - -

"There," Jen said, satisfied with the work she'd done on Jijimon's door. "All you needed to do was pop it into place…"

"Ahh, sorry, lassie," he apologized, "my old age sure does seem to be getting to me. I suppose ye need to be gettin' to bigger and better things, eh?"

"We were just going to help clean up and such," Veemon said. "I'm getting pretty tired, though," the Digimon gave off a fake yawn. Jen patted him on the head and told him to get to work.

The day sped by very fast and by sundown the town was showing large signs of improvement. Most buildings and homes were nearly finished projects.

KoKabuterimon hovered back down to the ground after placing another layer of bricks on a new apartment building. He turned to his partner, Jared, and said, "Maybe we should call it a day, my friend?"

"I agree with ya there," Jared responded, wiping sweat off of his forehead. "I haven't worked this hard since I last cleaned my room…"

KoKabuterimon had something in mind to retort with, but turned to look at something suspicious occurring by another building. A wall of metal appeared to materialize out of nowhere to complete the structure, and Jared and KoKabuterimon saw no effort by anybody being put into creating it.

"How did that happen?" Jared wondered. Curious, he moved into the street and looked down the alleyway by the mysterious tower and there he saw Akira, in a strange position. He was kneeling, and held his hands together in a pistol formation in front of him. Starmon stood next to him, but perhaps the most interesting part of it all was that a ring of fractal code circled endlessly around Akira's hands.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Day Care Nightmare

Akira jolted at the sight of Jared standing in the alleyway, and his hand formation broke. As a result, the building being recreated completely disappeared seamlessly. "Wh-where did you come from?!"

"We're just cleaning up like you are," Jared responded, wondering what Akira could have been doing. "We saw that building start materializing out of thin air."

"It's… nothing. Don't worry about it," Akira said. "Starmon and I were just picking up rubble."

"C'mon, Akira, you can't hide it from him," Starmon said. "Akira has this weird ability that he's not proud of."

"It's not the ability that I'm not proud of. It's what I used it for…"

"What?" Jared asked, confused. "You're not some sort of weird digital drug dealer, are you, Akira? Because you are _much_ too young to be getting into that--"

"Do I look like that kind of person?!" Akira scoffed. "There's a lot to what you just saw… so can we just drop it?"

"No, actually, I'd like to hear more--"

"_No,_ we wouldn't," KoKabuterimon interrupted Jared. "If he's not comfortable with sharing stories, I do not believe he should have to… _sir_."

"You don't mind if I still do what I just did, right?" Akira asked. "I promise I'll find time to explain it to you all later."

"It's no big deal, I'm sure whatever it is can wait," Jared replied. "I mean, it helps the city… may as well use it."

The four nodded in agreement, and thanks to Akira's strange skill, the city was restored in a matter of hours. The entire group met back at the town square that they had established, which turned out to be the busiest part of the city. They were greeted by the one hundred or so Digimon who remained, and many of them even gave each of the kids a personal thank you.

"Well done, lassies and laddies!" Jijimon smiled joyously. "Not only did you fix the door on my hut, you completely rebuilt it! Not to mention the rest of the city!"

"Trust me, it wasn't too hard," Akira laughed. "Anyway, we have places to go, things to see…"

"We do?" Max asked stupidly.

"Thank ye for yer time then, kids," Jijimon said. He stepped forward to shake each of their hands, and they took off on the road again with Akira at the head of the pack.

"Where are we going?" Jared wondered.

"Weren't we going to head to Primary Village, Akira?" Starmon asked his partner.

Akira thought and then stated, "Yeah, I need to speak with an old friend."

Most of the Digimon began talking with their partners rather than the rest of the group. The only pair that seemed to be avoiding this was Veemon and Jen. KoKabuterimon asked Jared questions about the Real World. Candlemon was arguing with Max about who was faster, and Alexis was teaching Penguinmon what a knock-knock joke was. Akira and Starmon conversed about serious matters which were all gibberish to the rest of the group.

"What's wrong, Veemon?" Jen asked her partner, already well aware as to why Veemon wasn't communicating.

"I'm nothing but data, right?" Veemon responded. "Why do you still talk to me? It's not like I have _feelings_ or anything."

"You're not still freaking out about what I said, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Oh, yeah, because I can't. I'm data."

"You've changed since we first met, dude. And I don't mean in a good way."

"I could say the same thing for **you**!"

"Would you two please stop your incessant bickering?" KoKabuterimon begged. "I can barely hear Jared tell me about ice cream!"

The pair arrogantly crossed their arms and groaned in unison.

"We're definitely going the right way," Akira said. "I've seen this area before." The group was exiting File City by now and was on a dirt trail heading out. Tall grass was on either side of the path.

"What's Primary Village anyways?" Alexis asked.

"It's where Digimon are reconfigured into Digitama and reborn," Candlemon answered. "A guy named Leomon works there and he raises them until they can roam free."

"He's like a nanny then?"

"He sure doesn't look like one, I'll tell you that!" Starmon chuckled. The trail took a few turns, and the kids arrived at a rather peculiar looking field of grass. It was a rather playful looking place, with gigantic blocks decorating the plain. Large, colorful eggs stood in small holes in the ground all about the land.

A majestic looking creature was hunched down in front of one of the eggs. He resembled a lion, though humanoid, and was very muscular in physique. His tan fur was most prominent in his ferocious mane, where it was more goldenrod than brown, and he wore black pants with a belt buckled around his waist. Akira and Starmon knew him as Leomon, and the others thought that he fit that profile well enough to assume him to be the fabled caretaker of the village.

Leomon jerked back to his feet when he noticed the kids entering the area. "Akira, it is good to see you again," he said in a low tone. He approached the boy and bowed, then shook his hand. He was at least six foot tall, and towered over the ten year old body. Leomon eyed Starmon, "I see you brought your follower as well."

"Gee, who could _that_ be?" Starmon said sarcastically. "Take no note of the eight others with us."

Leomon instead pretended not to notice Starmon. "And who might your friends be?"

Akira introduced them one by one by their names. Leomon greeted them as a whole. "What is it you're here for?"

"I was wondering," Akira said, "if you could tell us what you know of the Virus Busters."

"Ah, the Virus Busters disappeared decades ago…" Leomon said. "They never even completed their duty of defeating Millenniummon. He did that himself."

"Can I just pretend that I know what you're talking about?" Jen said.

"I see you've neglected to inform them of many important things," Leomon sighed. "Please, let's not mingle here anymore. Come on into the village! Take a load off!"

The kids shrugged and nodded to Leomon. Each of them walked through the grassy plain and observed the baby Digimon eggs. Some of them had recently hatched and were just sleeping amongst the remains of their eggshell.

At the edge of the village was a beautifully clear river. Jen and Alexis sat down at the side of it and pulled their shoes and socks off, dipping their feet into it. Max and Jared wandered still while nurturing the Digitama. The Digimon were playing with each other nearby, seemingly mock fighting, except for Starmon, who - along with Akira - disappeared with Leomon.

Alexis was quiet until she decided to spark a conversation. "What are your parents like, Jen?"

Jen paused, pulled her feet out of the water, and pulled her knees to her chest. "You don't want to know."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No."

The glare Jen had given Alexis told her not to provoke her anymore, so she toned down.

Akira came up from behind and startled Jen by tapping her on the shoulder. He said in a rush, "We have to go. Come on."

"What are you talking about?" Jen responded. "We just got here!"

"The water's at the perfect temperature!" Alexis feebly argued.

"We _need_ to go," Akira urged. "Something's going on and I don't like it."

"Did Veemon break one of the Digitama?" Jen asked.

"NO! Hurry up and get out of here!" his voice demanded. Jen and Alexis got to their feet and pulled their footwear back on as they ran. The rest of the group joined shortly after. Akira must have warned them prior to informing Jen and Alexis.

The kids and their Digimon partners came to the entrance of the village and were headed out, but they were stopped by two monsters that Jen recognized.

"Sealsdramon?!"

Two of the navy-armored dragon creatures stood in front of the team with one hand held forward. Almost silently, three more came from behind and grabbed Starmon, KoKabuterimon and Penguinmon. With the kids distracted and looking in the opposite direction, the other two Sealsdramon took advantage of this and snatched Veemon and Candlemon. Each of the children's partners were held captive!

Penguinmon, KoKabuterimon, and Starmon remained rather motionless, but being as stubborn as they were, Veemon and Candlemon squirmed madly in the Sealsdramons' grips.

Akira glanced at Starmon, who then made eye contact, and then it was as if billions of words had been spoken. Starmon grabbed his Sealsdramon captor by the arm and tossed him over his shoulder, slamming him to the ground. Akira closed his eyes shut, clapped his hands together and made a hand gesture, and seemingly out of nowhere a short sword materialized into his right hand's grip. He thrust the blade through the fallen Sealsdramon's chest, and in seconds the monster degenerated into data, which wandered about the air.

The four remaining Sealsdramon stupidly released the rookie Digimon from their clutches and ran after Starmon, wielding their knives. The kids, who were amazed by what Akira had done, were too busy gaping their mouths at the boy to notice their D-Cells glowing.

"**Initiate Digivolution Matrix.**"

"_Veemon digivolve to… __**Veedramon!**_"

"_Candlemon digivolve to… __**Meramon!**_"

"_KoKabuterimon digivolve to… __**BladeKuwagamon!**_"

"_Penguinmon digivolve to… __**Dolphmon!**_"

The four Champion level Digimon each went after a separate Sealsdramon. Veedramon leaped forward at one of them and tackled him to the ground forcefully. Meramon surrounded his target in a ring of flames and began firing fireballs at him, and BladeKuwagamon zipped through the air and impaled his enemy through the back. Dolphmon, in her quick thinking, brought in a large wave of water from the river and manipulated it to create an artificial whirlpool around the fourth Sealsdramon.

BladeKuwagamon's victim was destroyed instantly, and Meramon continuously engulfed his enemy in flames until he disintegrated into pixels. But Veedramon and Dolphmon couldn't seem to finish off theirs. One kicked Veedramon off of him, while the other narrowly escaped Dolphmon's trap. The two stood next to each other, and all five Champions lined up to face them.

The two groups stared each other down for a while, then it seemed the Sealsdramon duo drew the first revolver. The pair began to illuminate all about their bodies, and soon they combined into one mass of data. It materialized into a new form, one of an army grade tank. Its body was covered in deadly weapons and arms that made it look like it could challenge every military on Earth.

"Am I crazy, or did they just digivolve… together?" Veedramon questioned as a beat of sweat ran down the side of his face.

"I believe we're safe assuming both answers, my friend," BladeKuwagamon buzzed.

"I've seen this before," Starmon chimed in. "DNA Digivolution. It's when multiple Digimon combine into one being…"

"I don't suppose you know who this guy is, too, Jen?" Max asked. Jen shook her head, but not before Max pulled out his D-Cell to check for himself. "He's Tankdramon, an Ultimate level. His Striper Cannon attack packs an explosive punch!"

"Surrender, or I will annihilate this village!" Tankdramon growled.

"What good would come of that?" Starmon protested, stepping forward. "We want nothing more than peace here!"

Tankdramon ignored Starmon, instead laying him out with a quick barrage of bullets. He fell over soundlessly, seemingly unconscious. "Anybody else want to step up to the plate?" Tankdramon noticed no reaction and smirked, "Good. Now come on over and don't struggle."

Each of the four Champions nodded to each other. Veedramon approached Tankdramon first, holding his arms forward. Tankdramon demanded, "Degenerate back to your Rookie form, fool."

Veedramon groaned, noticing his size was triple that of Tankdramon's. "I… can't."

"Am I going to have to _make_ you do as I say?!" Tankdramon asked rhetorically. "I know you can degenerate, you little bugger. Now do it."

"I told you. _I can't_."

Tankdramon roared angrily. In his rage, the twin cannons on his back fired two missiles into the air. Seconds later, they fell back down to the ground head first and made an explosive impact.

A heroic Leomon's voice cried in the distance, "NO!"

The entire group was forced in scattered directions around the blast's radius. The team agonizingly coughing their brains out, the smoke finally cleared, but not to a happy sight. Leomon's body lay motionless on the ground, half of his body missing and forming a data mass nearby. "…_Children…_"

"Leomon…" Akira gasped, grasping his stomach. He looked up at the cackling Tankdramon, and then to the barren, scorched Earth around him. The once colorful and happy village now resembled a demented Saturday morning cartoon.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: It seems I've created my own silver Patamon subspecies. P

I'll be updating once a week, alternating between Sugiyama Legacy and Virus Busters.

- - -

Chapter 15: A Tale of Three Cities (Pt 1)

Before anybody could react to the event, Tankdramon disappeared in the midst of the smoke clouds.

Jen looked over at Leomon's data as it reformatted itself into a Digitama. The kids' partners all reverted back to their Rookie forms, even Starmon.

"Are you alright, Akira?" the silver hamster with wings asked Akira while it flew over to his vicinity. It had small, stubby legs and large blue eyes, and wings that resembled those of a bat.

"I'll be fine… what about the others?" Akira groaned, rising to his feet.

"I'm fine," Jen responded. She rubbed a red bump that had formed on her left temple.

"Same here," Max said, itching his scraped elbow.

"Ditto," Jared told Akira, re-adjusting his glasses.

"Me too," Alexis replied. She poked at a small cut on her forehead.

The other four Digimon approached the group, Veemon and Penguinmon stepping on the charred grass and Candlemon and KoKabuterimon hovering above it.

Akira held his Digimon in his arms. "Well, guys, this is Patamon… or Starmon as you may know him."

"Aw, he's so cute!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Look at the village now…" Jen groaned, gripping her side. She rotated herself around and observed the wasted grassland. Miraculously, the Digitama scattered about remained unscathed.

"This world isn't safe anymore," Akira said. "The baby Digimon here need a caretaker."

Jen whined, "Why do we still bother? It's pointless. Nothing that happens here matters anyway, it's all just data--"

"Hey, watch your mouth!" Candlemon interrupted angrily. "We're alive too! Just not in the same way as you!"

"Who am I to believe that? You were probably just programmed to think that way!"

The group fell silent, and the partner Digimon even showed signs of discouragement on their faces. Veemon lifted his head up and broke the silence, "I think… I'll guard Primary Village for a while."

"Oh, really?" Akira wondered. "That'd be awesome if you could!"

"But…" Jen stared in disbelief, "what about _me_? You're just going to leave me?"

"Actually…" Veemon said slowly, "I was thinking we could take a break from the whole partners thing…"

"Why?!" Jen asked, frustrated. Her voice tone rose as she spoke. "What did I do wrong?!"

"I'm just data, aren't I? I don't HAVE an opinion."

Jen shook her head. "Is that what this is about? It's not my fault your personality is just some… _stupid program_." Jen turned away and darted into the distance without looking back.

"Jen, get back here!" Max started after her, but Jared stopped him.

"What do we do now?" Candlemon asked rhetorically.

"I think we can make do without our 'fearless' leader," Patamon said. He escaped from Akira's grip and asked, "Veemon, you sure you want to protect the village for a bit?"

"Sure am!" Veemon smiled, pumping his fist against his chest and put on a sarcastic face. "What use am I with you guys when I don't have my oh-so-mighty partner with me?"

"Just be careful, buddy," Candlemon told him, "we don't really have a way of keeping in touch or anything."

"It's fine, I can defend myself," he nodded. "Later, guys!" He waved to the group as they did the same back. They took back off onto the trail, and Veemon realized, "I have no idea how to take care of baby Digimon… let alone clean this place up…" Regardless, he walked over to Leomon's Digitama to situate it in one of the pits.

- - -

"I don't know about this whole Jen-less thing," Jared complained while the group traveled along the lonely trail to who-knows-where.

"We'll be fine," Max argued. "I'm willing to bet we're better off without her."

"I don't know about that," Alexis said, staring at her feet as they kicked the dirt when she walked.

"She has a very negative attitude about what we are set out to do," KoKabuterimon noted. "I assure you, if that young girl does anything, it's holding us back."

"Akira, how do you do that thing that you do?" Jared asked. "You know, how you made that sword and stuff out of nowhere?"

"Oh… that's nothing," he responded. "Just a little talent I've had since the Crisis…"

"Bet you could make some major bucks with that sorta talent," Max pointed out.

"Yeah, about that… I may have done some things with it that I'm not too proud of." Silence loomed over the group until Akira continued, "So, are we heading anywhere specific?"

"I dunno, you know the most about this place," Max said, "not us."

"For now, I guess we're following this trail," Jared added.

"Hack Ocean is nearby," Patamon informed. "If you guys aren't too worried about Jen, that is."

"Jen has certainly shown that she believes she can do anything," KoKabuterimon said. "My mind tells me it'll be a good lesson for the girl."

Every major location in the Digital World so far seemed to transfer seamlessly; with one step you could be in another area without notice. This time, they walked from a grassy trail to a sandy beach. Most normal beaches are uninhabited, but being the Digital World, this one wasn't normal. Small huts and teepee structures stood erect across the entire sandlot and a digital ocean flowed in the distance. The river from Primary Village began from here as well.

"Looks like they beat us to it," Alexis noted oh-so-observantly.

- - -

Jen finally came to a halt, bending over to catch her breath. She had no idea how far she had run, nor did she care. It was where she'd ended up that irked her.

She was apparently at the entrance of "Sukayard" the sign at the entrance had aptly told her. Scrap metal and loads of assorted pieces of junk lay stacked upon each other randomly. Large hills of miscellaneous garbage had formed, appropriately for a junkyard.

Jen wandered through the yard aimlessly, stepping over pieces of glass and bits of trash in her way. She shifted her eyes in search of anything living, but forgot to look up.

"HALT! Who goes there?!"

Jen jumped, startled. She turned to her side and looked at the tall pile of garbage. Nobody was there.

"No, you dope! Up here!"

Her eyes wandered upward to the top of the "mountain." A green blob with protruding eyeballs stood at the mountaintop, staring menacingly down at the girl. He was covered in purple splotches and had a long, red tongue. Needless to say, he didn't seem all that threatening to her

_Why did I even come here?_ "Uh, my name's Jen-"

"A_human_!" another voice called. Jen turned back to her front and now standing in front of her was a similar creature, but of dark complexion. He had a handlebar mustache, and had a snail-like behind, but instead of a shell, it was a silver, gold-studded crown. "In MY kingdom?"

"I tried to stop her, your Highness," the green creature wiggled down from his hill, "but she wouldn't stop arguing with me!"

"I didn't say two words to the guy before you came!" Jen objected.

"It's no matter!" the black creature began. "Humans are all the same! Dirty creatures of filthy habits!"

_Ha. They're calling _me_ filthy. _"I don't suppose you're any better than humans."

"Of course we are!" two more green creatures came up to either side of the black one from behind. "We're the Numemon! _Much _cleaner than the Sukamon!"

"I, my dirty human, am BlackKingNumemon," the crowned monster noted, "ruler of Sukayard!"

"So if Sukamon don't live here, why is it still called Sukayard?" Jen asked.

"We haven't gotten around to fixing that sign yet, your Highness," one of the Numemon confessed embarrassedly.

BlackKingNumemon became furious with rage. "**I WILL NOT HAVE THE DISGUSTING NAME OF THE SUKAMON REPRESENTING MY KINGDOM!**"

The three Numemon shuddered violently, bowing in rapid succession and making their way back to the entrance without a word. They had communicated non-verbally, and they were apparently off to fix the sign.

"What's so bad about Sukamon, anyway?" Jen inquired.

BlackKingNumemon sighed. "Where do I begin? Sukamon are an abomination to this good World, a plague of a corrupted type that must be destroyed!" Jen chose not to point out that the previous statement made very little sense. "They have no point in the Digital World other than to aggravate our economy, wreck our villages, and beat our women- wait… do we have women? … But still! They do bad things indeed!"

Jen stared at the King, dazed and confused. "So did this place used to be theirs?"

"Yes, I do admit that we invaded this kingdom and took it over. But that doesn't change the fact that they are worthless scum!" From seemingly out of nowhere, another Numemon brought BlackKingNumemon a sheet of paper. "Oh, thank you, servant." BlackKingNumemon held it in his mouth, and flipped it to show Jen. "Th's is wh' a Sukamon looks li'!"

The drawing on the paper was nothing more than a doodle. The creature looked like a large yellow piece of excrement with a mouth and eyes. "That's… a Sukamon? He's literally a piece of crap."

BlackKingNumemon released the paper from his mouth. "No kidding! And if you help us rid this world of the Sukamon species, you can prove to me that not all humans are dirty scum like them!"

"Thanks for the offer, but I have nothing to prove to you," Jen scoffed and began to walk away. "I'm gonna find a way back to Earth."

"Suit yourself, scumbag!" the King scoffed, turning the other way. Jen continued walking, but it wasn't long before a dark shadow cast over the village. Jen made her first guess out loud.

"Kimeramon?!"

- - -

"For the love of Yggdrasil, STOP CRYING!" Veemon shouted at a young Botamon's face. Babysitting at Primary Village was getting the best of him.

The small, round Digimon donned a sad face, and Veemon pampered it to cheer it up. When it finally went back to sleep, Veemon sighed, relieved. He turned around and walked around the village to keep an eye on the baby Digimon.

Veemon wandered his eyes to the bright evening sky above. Slowly, though, the sun seemed to be fading away. Veemon squinted his eyes, and noticed a dark silhouette growing closer and closer from the air.

There was no mistaking it. It was Kimeramon.

All the little blue Digimon could do is scream as Kimeramon's claw reached down and grasped him. His entire body fit snugly in Kimeramon's fist, but that didn't prevent him from crying out.

"Jen! JEN! _**JEN!!**_"

- - -

Max, Alexis, Jared, and Akira headed into the beach with their Digimon close behind. Patamon noted how comfortable the sand felt beneath his feet, and that lured KoKabuterimon and Candlemon to land and walk, or hobble, in Candlemon's case.

The gang could hear raspy voices conversing in the homes and tents scattered around the beach. In unison, several of the citizens exited their shelters and eyeballed the group.

One type of Digimon resembled a crab. It was blue, and one of its claws was larger than the other. A different sort of creature was reminiscent of a sea lion with white skin, purple markings and an orange Mohawk on its head. The final species was a pink shellfish with a pair of hinged shells, like an oyster or a clam. Its slimy body inside was green and the various expressions on each of their faces were innocent and, debatably, adorable.

"I hate seafood…" Max groaned.

"I very much doubt you will be eating any of these sea creatures, Max," KoKabuterimon said.

"Are those the humans that restored File City?" one of the shell creatures said to its pals. Obviously, word traveled pretty fast around File Island.

"You're looking at 'em!" Max said haughtily, jogging to the mass of aquatic Digimon. "Who're you guys?"

"We're just a small community that lives by this beach," a seal monster reported. "I'm called a Gomamon!"

"We're Syakomon!" the shell Digimon all said together.

"You can call us Crabmon!" the rest of the creatures said.

"Is it just me," Jared started, "or is it going to get really confusing to refer to you guys individually?"

"Don't worry," a Gomamon said, "all of the Gomamon are good at just about the same things. Same with the Syakomon and the Crabmon. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you all!"

"You're the only ones that live here?" Alexis asked. "You don't have a king or anything?"

"Who needs a king?" a Syakomon scoffed. "We get along perfectly fine on our own!"

"We lead clean and healthy lives down here by the shore," a Crabmon said. "You could say we're the opposite of, maybe… a Numemon!"


End file.
